Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 17 September 2025
A conference on strengthening the Emergency Communication and Early Warning System in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was recently convened at the Conference Hall of the Directorate of Disaster Management under the chairmanship of Dr. Chandra Bhushan Kumar, IAS, Chief Secretary, A&N Administration.
In his inaugural address, the Chief Secretary lauded the Directorate of Disaster Management for bringing together key stakeholders to enhance disaster preparedness. He emphasised the Hon’ble Lt. Governor’s directions to establish a fail-safe communication network across all inhabited islands and underscored the importance of formulating a practical Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Emergency Operation Centres (EOCs) and Control Rooms across the Union Territory.
Summarising the proceedings, Ms. Chanchal Yadav, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Disaster Management), instructed all departments to share their communication resources with Disaster Management and District Administrations to ensure effective utilisation during emergencies.
Earlier, Mr. Neeraj Bharati, IAS, Secretary (Disaster Management), urged resource departments and district administrations to integrate their existing systems with Disaster Management to enhance preparedness levels. Ms. Priyanka Kumari, Director (Disaster Management), outlined the objectives of the conference, highlighting the need to identify communication gaps and reinforce the Islands’ emergency communication framework.
The event saw the participation of senior officers from the Police, Forest, Andaman & Nicobar Command, NDRF, Directorate of Shipping, Port Management Board, Electricity, Fisheries, Health Departments, and all three District Administrations.
During the technical session, departments and district officials presented details of their available communication infrastructure. Discussions focused on integration, redundancy, and resource-sharing to ensure uninterrupted connectivity during disasters.
A group discussion was also held with officers from the A&N Administration and other agencies, where suggestions were put forward for establishing reliable, fail-safe communication systems across the UT. The NDMA Consultant (Communication), who attended virtually, recommended leveraging all available telecom service provider networks at the SEOC and other EOCs to further strengthen the system.
