Centre now plans warning system

The government today said in the absence of the required instrumentation it was not possible to give an early warning on the tsunami, but it...

The government today said in the absence of the required instrumentation it was not possible to give an early warning on the tsunami, but it will now install ‘‘deep ocean assessment and reporting system’’ to know of such situations in advance.

‘‘It is not necessary that tsunamis will be there in the event of an earthquake. In history, there have been many earthquakes which have not caused any tsunamis,’’ Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters, reacting to allegations that the government could not warn the coastal areas on time.

‘‘No government thought of it…The last recorded tsunami has been in 1883. It was not in the horizon of our thoughts. Besides, tsunamis are not seen in ocean and gain height only when they approach the shore,’’ he said.

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Though the authorities knew of the earthquake that hit Sumatra at 6.29 am, they could not assess that it would cause tsunamis which hit the Indian coast after about two-and-half hours, he said.

However, the government has now decided to install 10-12 ‘‘deep ocean assessment and reporting systems’’ and would also coordinate with the Pacific Tsunamic Warning Centre to learn from their experience, he said. The cost of the system would be about Rs 100-125 crore.