Friday, April 1 2005 12:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has sought setting up of a tsunami-warning centre (TWC) in this metropolis saying it would "psychologically reassure the coastal population". The proposed centre could be set up at the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), a premier institute in Chennai, she said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday (Mar 31, 2005), a copy of which was released to the media today (April 1, 2005).

Stating that she had been told that the Centre was to be located at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services at Hyderabad, she said that the NIOT was, "Well established and well recognised and it will not be appropriate to locate this (the TWC) in some other institution inland."

Jayalalithaa said during her meeting with the Prime Minister on Jan 7, 2005 during his visit to the State she had specifically brought to his notice the need for establishing a tsunami warning system to provide adequate forewarning to Tamil Nadu on the likelihood of tsunami waves. "I had suggested that as the Tamil Nadu coast was most severely affected, such a warning centre should be established in Chennai."

The operational objective of the TWC in the Indian Ocean was to detect and locate major earthquakes in the Indian Ocean region, to determine whether they have generated tsunamis and to provide timely and effective tsunami information and warnings to the population of the region, she said.

To achieve this objective, TWC should continuously monitor the seismic activity and ocean surface level of the Indian Ocean. "Such a centre is better located on the Tamil Nadu coast and preferably at Chennai," she said.