Government to warn people in flood-prone areas through phone calls

Kathmandu: The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has begun preparations to deliver advance disaster warnings to people in risk areas through phone calls. In collaboration with Nepal Telecom, the department is setting up an interactive voice response (IVR) system.

“The system has been developed but is yet to be tested,” said Binod Parajuli, Senior Divisional Hydrologist at the department. “Currently, disaster-related alerts are sent via SMS. But many people cannot read messages, and even those who can may not check them at night, during holidays, or when busy. Calls are more effective, which is why we are preparing for testing.”

According to him, the IVR system has been under development for the past two months and is now ready for trial. Testing is expected to begin next week.

Under the new system, if flooding is likely in an area, a recorded call will be sent directly to residents. Once they answer, the call will provide information on flood risks along with safety advice. This will function as an actual call rather than a voicemail.

The first trial will be conducted in one of the provinces in Madhes or Lumbini. If effective, the system could be expanded nationwide.

However, officials acknowledge that making calls to a large population at once could cause network congestion. To avoid this during the trial, early warnings will first be sent to disaster contact persons, as well as stakeholders at municipal, ward, district, and provincial levels in at-risk areas.

Testing will help determine whether the system can scale to a larger population and identify potential issues such as traffic jams in the network.

Earlier, on June 26, the Agriculture, Cooperatives, and Natural Resources Committee had directed the government to issue disaster warnings through calls, citing the unreliability of SMS alerts during the monsoon. Nearly two months after that directive, the department is preparing to test the call-based system.

 

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