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Ham operators to assist Mumbai civic body

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had to face much flak for its failure to provide succour during the monsoon onslaught on July 26, 2005, when large parts of the city was flooded.

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MUMBAI: Eager to prevent a repeat of the communication breakdown that occurred during the deluge in July last year, the Mumbai civic body has found help from an unexpected quarter - veteran ham radio operators.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had to face much flak for its failure to provide succour during the monsoon onslaught on July 26, 2005, when large parts of the city was flooded.

City-based JNA Wireless Association, a group of veteran ham radio operators, have teamed up with the BMC to set up an emergency ham radio communication system, which switches on when landlines or mobile networks fail.

The JNA has in place a 20-member "scramble team" on standby, ready to move to locations where communication is needed for disaster management. 

JNA, founded in 1988 and named after veteran ham radio buff Jamshed N. Anklesaria, who died in 1987, boasts of a dedicated, self-motivated and self-funded "scramble team".

The team consists of ham members trained in various aspects of emergency communications and equipped with state-of-the-art satellite ham equipment ready for immediate mobilisation.

The JNA has in the past responded to many natural disasters, including the 1993 Latur earthquake in Gujarat. But it was caught unawares during the deluge in July 2005.

"We were caught on the wrong foot during the torrential rains last year and the floods were unexpected. Waking up to the fact that such a lapse should not be repeated, we contacted the BMC and offered to set up emergency communication needs during crisis when normal means of communication fail," JNA founder trustee J.P. Venkatraman told IANS.

"Apart from a ham radio station working at the BMC headquarters, we have also set up stations in the Malabar Hills, Chembur, Kandivili, Kalina and Charkop areas that were worst hit by the rains last year," Venkatraman said.

"We have a scrambler team on standby, ready to move to locations where normal communication means fail. Scrambler teams are the only means for disaster management at such times," Venkatraman said.

And the BMC is not complaining.

"The ham radio system has come as a blessing. They will help us maintain vital communication links in the event of any failure during the ongoing monsoons. We are fortunate to have the JNA by our side," said Vilas Vaidya, chief officer, BMC disaster management cell.

"We have provided the ham radio operators with the entire infrastructure at our disposal."

The JNA, which has set up more than 200 ham radios in the city over the last two decades, was the first to reach Killari, the epicentre of the 1993 Latur earthquake.

"Our scrambler team reached Killari by 10 in the morning and was able to establish communications with the Mantralaya (the seat of the Maharashtra government in Mumbai)."

The devastating earthquake had struck Latur at 4.30 a.m. on Sep 30, 1993, claiming tens of thousands of lives.

"The scrambler team was the first to give feedbacks, assessing the extent of the calamity from the quake-hit areas of Latur. We handled thousands of life-saving messages during the calamity," Venkatraman recalled.

The ham enthusiasts have also tied up with the Colaba weather bureau for advance intimation of impending calamities and with Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. for use of satellite communications.

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