[cr-india] Community radio on disaster management to go on air tomorrow

[sakthi vel]

Community radio on disaster management to go on air
tomorrow

CHENNAI: Two years after tsunami battered it,
Nagapattinam may finally have the solution to empower
local communities to cope with disasters. 

On Friday, when the country's first community radio on
disaster management, Kalanjiyam, is launched from
Chennai and starts operating from Vizhundhamavadi
village in Nagapattinam, `technology for the
grassroots' will no longer remain a slogan. 

A partnership between the local community,
Madurai-based Dhan Foundation and Bangalore-based tech
forum Voices, the radio station is financed by the
United Nations Development Programme. 

The Foundation will build upon its experience in
running information kiosks in all tsunami-affected
coastal hamlets and services of trained `radio
volunteers' from among the local educated youth. 

"Apart from being a home-grown warning system, the
radio station will seek to inform the local community
on coping with disasters, seeking and mobilising help
and accessing locally available livelihood
opportunities. Initially, we will narrowcast up to a
two-km radius. Once our application with the Union
Information and Broadcasting Ministry is cleared, we
will switch over to broadcast, covering a 15 to 20 km
radius," says a Foundation spokesperson. 

A state-of-the-art production studio has already been
set up at Vizhundhamavadi. Initially, Kalanjiyam will
beam for about half an hour everyday and will shortly
increase this to one hour. Once the licence comes, the
station will function six hours a day. The total cost
of the project, including operation and management,
works out to Rs. 13 lakh. 

In the initial stages, the Foundation will provide the
expertise and Voices the tech support. 

Kalanjiyam is designed to become self-reliant in two
years.
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Source: http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/22/stories/2007022207050400.htm

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   Jaisakthivel 
  Chennai, India. 

     
   
   



		
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