Every year, India faces the threat of massive natural disasters, from floods, cyclones and landslides to earthquakes and droughts. The death toll from these disasters-including human lives and livelihoods, destruction of homes and public infrastructure and huge financial losses cripples the backbone of entire country. Unfortunately, natural disasters themselves cannot be fully averted. However, investing in disaster prevention and disaster risk reduction (DRR) programs can substantially reduce the economic and social fallout when they occur.

As a major step put forward by Indian Government towards building preparedness for disaster management (DM), Disaster Management Act was unanimously passed in the Parliament in December, 2005, leading to the formation of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as the apex body at the national level (with Prime Minister of India as Chairperson of the National Authority), State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) at the state level (with respective Chief Ministers of the State as the Chairperson) and District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) at the district level (with respective Collector or District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner, as the case may be, of the district, who shall be chairperson). Further details are available in DM Act 2005.

 
Clause (p) of Sub Section (2) of Section 22 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 says that the State Executive Committee shall “ensure that communication systems are in order…..”.

Communication is the first most priority in responding to disasters in an effective and timely manner. Keeping communication system in order during the most adverse circumstances is one of the key requirements of today. The holistic Disaster management cycle has four overlapping phases: Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery.

 
TCIL’s offering in Disaster Management
Telecommunications Consultants INDIA Ltd. (TCIL), a prime engineering and consultancy company, a wholly owned Government of India Public Sector Enterprise under administrative control of the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology - has proven technical expertise in the design and execution of the robust telecommunication and IT infrastructure for Disaster Management.
Some of the TCIL’s offerings are

	1.	Assisting State Governments in setting up of Emergency Operation Centres at State, District and Taluka level.
	2.	Planning, Design and Implementation of Statewide Communication Network.
	3.	Hazard, Vulnerability, Risk Assessment for various State Governments.
	4.	Radio communication network
		•	TETRA (TERRESTRIAL TRUNKED RADIO) -a user-driven open standard for next-generation digital mobile communications for professional users, delivering voice, data and messaging services for simple one-to-one or complex group communications.
		•	DMR- Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) is a digital radio standard specified for professional mobile radio (PMR) users developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), and first ratified in 2005.
	5.	Satellite communication services
		•	VSAT-It offers voice, video and data communication services.
		•	Mobile Emergency Response Vehicle-Goes to the disaster site and establishes communication.
	6.	Implementation of Early Warning System- Group Based Alert Message-Bulk Voice, Bulk SMS and Bulk Email.
	7.	Disaster Management Softwares - Following are possible with the help of the software at the time of emergency:
		•	Mass Notification to public (Voice, Text, Email)
		•	Standard operating procedures
		•	Making decisions easier- Such as nearby hospitals, nearby centres which can offer help and how to direct resources to the disaster site.
	8.	Videoconferencing Solutions
	9.	Tele-Education Learning Platform for Disaster Management Trainings
	10.	Tele-Medicine Software Tools during Rescue Operations
	11.	Call centre solutions for disaster management
	12.	Provide project management & implementations support

TCIL’s Project Management (PM) Methodology
TCIL is a project oriented organization and follows best project management practices for execution of domain specific project. TCIL has developed a project management unit for disaster management projects and ensures quality of services for entire project cycle involving following phases.




TCIL’S proven expertise in the field of disaster management and related projects

	•	TCIL has implemented Siren Warning System project for Ministry of Energy And Water Resources for Govt. of Sierra Leone, Africa.
	•	TCIL is working as consultant for the World Bank funded project for National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP) – Component-A for last mile connectivity & early warning dissemination for the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh & Odisha.
	•	Pan-African e-Network Project-One of world’s largest dedicated network connecting 48 countries of African Union for education and healthcare services
	•	Supply, Delivery, Turnkey Installation, Testing & Commissioning Ku-Band VSAT Network for Nepal Telecom.
	•	TETRA for common wealth games 2010 for Govt. of NCT Delhi.
	•	INMARSAT Mini-M terminals for
			Andaman & Nicobar Administration, Port Blair
			Department Of Disaster Management, Govt. Of Uttaranchal
			Forest Department, Govt. of Uttaranchal
			Department Of Disaster Management, Govt. Of Andhra Pradesh
			Directorate General, Border Security Force, New Delhi