Tamil Nadu has been put on high alert as cyclone Fani approaches the eastern coast.
Researchers at the Amrita Centre for Wireless Networks and Applications (AmritaWNA), urged the inhabitants to use the mobile app ‘AmritaKripa’ which they designed to help locate, rescue and provide relief to people in case of natural disasters.
The same android app was used in 2018 during the Kerala floods, saving over 12,000 people who were stranded, reported Livemint.
Catch all the live updates on Cyclone Fani here.
The app connects stranded people with rescue teams, allowing them to either request or offer services.
“Often people who need help are not able to reach the helpline numbers due to the limited number of parallel calls that these lines can handle. This negatively impacts rescue missions, and precious lives are lost,” told Dr Maneesha Sudheer, director of AmritaWNA to The New Indian Express.
These services include repair, clearing garbage, plumbing, welding and provision of supplies like baby food, clothes and drinking water. It allows one to report missing persons or those in need of medical assistance. The app uses real-time GPS data to locate the users and ensure that the nearest help-providers reach them.
The app is available on Google Play Store and is multilingual, supporting languages like English, Hindi, Tamil, Bangla, Kannada, and more.
(With inputs from The News Indian Express and Livemint)
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