Thursday, January 27 2005 15:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: India is looking at available options to establish a robust multiple hazard early warning system to tackle natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunami and cyclone, a senior official said in Beijing.

Though India has decided to set up its own tsunami early warning system along the fault lines stretching from Java-Sumatra to Andaman and Nicobar in the Indian Ocean region and in the Arabian Sea, the Advisor and Head of Seismology Division of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Dr G D Gupta said it would be a better option to go in for a multiple hazard early warning system.

Since tsunamis like the one that struck parts of South East Asia and South Asia, including India on December 26, 2004 may occur once in 100 years or so, it would not be wise proposition to build an early warning system which is tsunami-specific, Gupta told reporters on the sidelines of the just-concluded China-ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Workshop on Tsunami Warning in Beijing.

At the same time, he stressed that India has to watch the fault lines stretching from Java-Sumatra to Andaman and Nicobar in the Indian Ocean region and in the Arabian Sea, especially Bhuj in Gujarat for possible earthquake generated tsunamis.

He said the Government was looking at all available options and geodynamics that should go into the early warning system and would not hesitate to cooperate with other countries in establishing the early warning systems.

He also stressed that there needs to be a systematic public education campaign in the country to promote awareness of how to face natural disasters. Another important step is to launch training programmes for professionals to man the proposed early warning systems.