Pune, December 27: CATEGORICAL to claim that advisories had been issued to anticipate the deadly tidal waves, authorities at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday said they will propose to the government to make India part of an international warning system designed to warn coastal communities of tsunami. The warning system, monitored from United States (US), alerts nations that their coastlines could be hit by destructive waves within three to 14 hours.

Shaken from their comfort zone, scientists at the seismological section at IMD, Pune and at Mausam Bhavan in New Delhi sought to counter charges of a lax attitude. Geological experts had accused the IMD and other agencies of abysmal failure in anticipating a deadly tidal wave in the aftermath of an powerful earthquake off the Sumatra coast. Given that the tsunami hit the Indian coastline three hours after the quake, experts say the buffer time was good enough for government agencies to expect a strong wave and issue an alert.

IMD Additional Director General B Lall, when contacted by Pune Newsline, said that the department did issue an advisory within a few hours of the earthquake off the Sumatra coast. “The first advisory sent to Met offices at all major ports did specifically warn and explain a tsunami,” said Lall.

Lall, officiating Director General, was unequivocal to state that the advisory mentioned the cause and effect behind tsunami waves. The advisory detailed how the earthquake on Sunday morning could “displace the sea floor and move water columns that push waves at a deadly speed,” said Lall. Asked why relevant port authorities failed to heed their advisory, Lall said there might be a communication gap since it was a Sunday. “But we from our side informed every relevant authority in Delhi and in Chennai,” he said.

While admitting abysmal failure in minimising the death toll and damage to property, Lall puts India’s inexperience in handling a tsunami as the main culprit. “We could have offset the damage considerably had India been part of an international alliance warning of tidal waves,” said Lall. The IMD will ask the government to enroll India as a member of the international warning system controlled by US and Japan, as far as Asia is concerned, he added.

The international warning system, mentioned by IMD authorities now, was started in 1965, a year after tsunamis associated with a magnitude 9.2 temblor struck Alaska in 1964. It is administered by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Member states include all major Pacific rim nations in North America, Asia and South America, the Pacific islands, Australia and New Zealand and France.