Ernakulam: App to alert fishermen on weather

Kochi: In a first of its kind initiative, the Ernakulam district administration is set to launch ‘E Samudra’ under which an android application is being developed for fishers to provide them with critical information on weather and disaster alerts among others. The project to be implemented from the second half of November is backed by the department of fisheries and department of telecommunications. “The app will have features that can identify the location of vessels, alert fishers upon crossing the international maritime border (30 nautical miles from the shore) and send SOS regardless of data coverage. The Android app can work on any basic smartphone available in the local market,” said K. Mohammed Y Safirulla, district collector.

The app will help in point-to-point navigation, provide information about landing centres, weather and ocean conditions, disaster alerts and current market prices.
Upon registration by a user, the information will be sent to a remote server and will be saved for reference and verification purpose by the fisheries department. A one-time password will be generated and forwarded to the registered mobile number. The OTP needs to be entered, and the user can start using the app. “The trials will be conducted in the first two weeks of November and the project launched in the later half of next month. The effort is to assist our fishing community with the best technology available. The project is being implemented with the technical support from Keltron,” he said.