India's first radio on disaster management

India's first radio station on disaster management will be on air in a few months. Kalanjiam, a community radio network will begin broadcast from Chennai. The radio station will have programmes produced from Vizhundhamavadi, a coastal village in Nagapattinam district--one of the worst hit in the 2004 tsunami. The initiative is a partnership between the local community, two ngos--dhan foundation and voices, and is backed by the United Nations Development Programme, Sridhar Lakshman, programme associate with the un, told the media on February 24. dhan has already trained radio volunteers chosen from the local communities. The foundation says the radio station will work as a warning system and will advise the local community on coping with disasters.

The Kalanjiam project combines radio with video and web-based technologies. It will also facilitate the creation of the Kalanjiam community media centre by the end of this year. In the first phase, the station will cover five villages. The programmes will go on air through a mix of air broadcasts, cablecasts and loudspeaker narrowcasts.