Assam launches mobile app to help disaster victims

The Assam government on Thursday launched a mobile application that will disseminate information about disaster management to the people in need.

The application - Disaster Ready Assam - was inaugurated by Chief Secretary V.K. Pipersenia here.

"The application could be useful to smartphone users in the state as a fast communication tool to tackle disaster situation - be it flood, landslide, fire or earthquake," said an official with the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA).

"While downloading the app, an user will have to create a personal profile where they can register two phone numbers and once they press the distress button in case of an emergency situation, the application will automatically send distress messages to our control room and the two registered phone numbers."

The inbuilt features will help us identify the location of the person by using a location tracking software and rush our personnel for emergency assistance, the official said.

Hologram, a Guwahati-based IT firm, was engaged by the disaster management authority to develop the application and it will be ready for download from Google play as well as from the ASDMA website from Monday.

"There is a torch and a system which will generate beep sounds and will alert people in the nearby areas to provide assistance to the person in distress. We believe that the use of this application will further improve our disaster management preparedness," he said.

Flood is an annual problem in Assam and the state is situated in the highly active seismic zone.

The state government has taken up several measures to revamp its disaster management infrastructure.

A total of 63 people have died so far in the four waves of floods that hit most of the districts in the state since January.