India tests nationwide emergency alert system, sending loud beep to millions of mobile phones

DID your phone go off with a loud beep today? The government's instant disaster alerting service sparked a big alarm on Saturday morning as a loud sound echoed through multiple mobile phones, confusing people as to what had happened.

Emergency alert testing

India has launched its Cell Broadcast messaging system, utilising indigenous technology, for an instant disaster alerting service to its citizens.

The Centre on Saturday sent an alert to almost all citizens around 11:42 test the system.

What does it mean?

The Department of Telecommunications, Govt. of India, tweeted, “If you receive an alert message on your phone, do not panic. This is part of the testing of the Emergency Alert System, ensuring that accurate information is received on time during disasters. During testing, this message may appear repeatedly. Ignore it; you do not need to do anything.”

As they checked their phones, a message starting with the words ‘Extremely severe alert’ flashed with the following text: “India launches Cell Broadcast using indigenous technology, for instant disaster alerting service for its citizens. Alert citizens, safe nation. No action is required by the public upon receipt of this message. This is a test message. - Government of India.”

“India launches Cell Broadcast using indigenous technology, for instant disaster alerting service for its citizens. Alert citizens, safe nation. No action is required by the public upon receipt of this message. This is a test message. – Government of India,” The message read.

Why it is important

Previously, the government shared that they would be conducting trials of mobile-based disaster alert systems across India, urging citizens to ignore the test messages.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), aims to enhance the mobile-based disaster communication systems across the country.

The system is based on the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) as recommended by the UN body International Telecommunication Union. It is operational across all 36 States and Union Territories of India to delivers disaster and emergency-related alerts via SMS to mobile phone users within geo-targeted areas.

"As part of the pan-India rollout and the launch of the Cell Broadcast (CB) facility, nationwide testing and trials are currently being conducted to assess the system's performance and reliability prior to its formal inauguration and dedication to the nation. During this period, members of the public may receive test messages in English, Hindi and regional languages on their mobile devices," the statement said, as reported by ANI on 29 April.

For now, the messages do not require any action by the recipients.

Minister of Communications of India, Jyotiraditya Scindia posted on X: "If you receive a message like this on your phone, it is a test alert as part of India’s new nationwide mobile-based Disaster Communication System, developed by the @cdot_india team at @DoT_India with @ndmaindia, using cell broadcast technology.

“This system will henceforth be used to send near real-time, geo-targeted alerts in multiple languages, strengthening emergency response and putting citizen safety first.”

DoT has appealed for the cooperation of the public during the ongoing testing phase. All test messages in this period are purely for system validation purposes to ensure smooth functioning when required.