Website on Ocean Forecast System

HYDERABAD: National Disaster Management Authority vice-chairman Marri Shashidhar Reddy on Thursday has released an atlas on Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI), a measure of the relative risk due to the physical changes in sea level during natural disasters like Tsunami.He also launched a website for ocean forecast system along ship routes to facilitate better navigation and released a DVD on Argo Data Products (Version 2) at the inaugural session of the second interaction workshop conducted by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) here on Thursday.Speaking on the occasion, Reddy said despite the country has world- class experts and equipment, there is still lack of awareness on the Tsunami and other sea disasters among the fishermen and villagers of coastal region.There is a huge gap between the developments in the field of science and technology and their usage by common man, which would be narrowed down by creating awareness among the masses, he said.The INCOIS, Hyderabad, which has a Tsunami Warning Centre, provides a wide range of information including Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) advisory, ocean forecasts on waves, currents, sea surface and temperature. The daily forecast, made in every three to six hours, is of a great help to fishermen, shipping industry, navy and the ONGC, he said.About 70 percent of the fishermen in the country are being benefited by the information, Reddy said, citing the fishermen from Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu have earned Rs 23,000 crore more in 2012 than the previous years.More than 200 persons including fishermen, Navy and ONGC officials, researchers and students attended in the workshop.