Social media has come handy for rescuers in flood-ravaged Chennai with a desk created by National Disaster Response Force here meticulously monitoring Twitter and Facebook posts round-the-clock to ensure help at the earliest.
The desk at the headquaters here was created at the instruction of NDRF chief O P Singh that there should be no delay in reaching out to the people who have managed to upload their posts on Twitter or Facebook.
It has picked up over 1,000 tweets and posts and also provided response about the status of the requests.
The Information Technology wing of the force, which is being manned round-the-clock by a posse of over a dozen NDRF personnel, is posting assurances to every SoS message made online in the wake of the flood crisis in the southern metropolis.
The force is responding with messages like 'noted', 'we will do the needful', 'will do our best possible', 'noted and passed to field teams' and 'pls provide full address' to calls for help by Chennai dwellers.
Singh is getting hourly updates on his personal mobile phone about the social media response of the force and has also instructed the team to ensure that "each and every" tweet, email, WhatsApp message, SMS or phone call is acknowledged.
"We have been getting these messages for the last three- four days... Initially, we used to pick the information and send it across to our field units in Chennai and Arakkonam for immediate action, but I thought we need to personally assure the people who either seek help themselves or on behalf of their family or friends.
"Half the battle is won when our official Twitter handle or email says 'noted', which is an assurance to say that we are working on the distress call. The person on the other side feels he or she is being heard and cared for," Singh told PTI before taking a special flight to Tamil Nadu for a review of the situation there.
The 12,000-strong force, at the latest count, had received and responded to 339 tweets on its official handle '@NDRFHQ' or through '#NDRF' along with 501 emails, 613 phone calls and 13 messages on WhatsApp.
"We pick up information from all social media avenues and immediately send it to our field teams, manned by two DIG rank officers in Tamil Nadu, in an Excel sheet format via the V-SAT system activated exclusively for these tasks," a senior NDRF official said.
The calls received on the two helpline numbers -- 011-24363260, 09711077372 -- are routed to the NDRF On-Site Emergency Operation Coordination Centre (OSOCC) at Kilpauk in Chennai via satellite phone updates, Information Technology wing head of NDRF Krishan Kumar said.
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Tower firm Viom Networks today said it is working with local relief authorities to ensure its mobile network remains operational in rain-ravaged districts of Tamil Nadu.
Mobile operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone have also launched helpline services to trace missing people.
Viom in a statement said the recent natural calamity has inundated several tower sites in the region, and some of them are located in areas which are now unreachable for diesel refuelling and repair work.
Despite all the challenges, most of the damaged mobile towers in rain-ravaged districts of Tamil Nadu have been restored, and the company is working to keep up the supply of fuel at the maintenance sites to keep them running, it said.
To trace missing persons in Chennai, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone have launched a helpline wherein people can call 1948 and they will receive an SMS within 2 hours with their last called location.
Both the companies have opened 16 retail stores in prominent localities across Chennai offering this free calling and messaging service.
