The Centre has begun nationwide testing of a new mobile-based public emergency alert system aimed at delivering faster and more reliable warnings during disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis, lightning strikes and industrial accidents.
The initiative is being implemented by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in coordination with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). As part of this effort, NDMA has operationalised the Integrated Alert System, known as SACHET, which has been developed indigenously by the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT).
The SACHET platform follows the internationally recommended Common Alerting Protocol and is already functional across all 36 states and Union Territories. It currently sends disaster-related alerts through geo-targeted SMS messages. Officials said the system has so far been used to disseminate more than 134 billion alerts in over 19 Indian languages during events such as cyclones, extreme weather and other natural disasters.
To further strengthen communication in time-critical situations, the government has now added Cell Broadcast (CB) technology to the alert system. Unlike SMS, cell broadcast sends messages simultaneously to all mobile phones within a specific geographical area, ensuring near real-time delivery even when networks are congested.
C-DOT has been tasked with developing and deploying this cell broadcast-based public alert system across the country.
As part of the pan-India rollout, extensive testing and trials are currently underway before the system is formally launched. During this phase, people may receive test alert messages in English, Hindi and regional languages on their mobile phones.
Officials clarified that these test messages will only reach devices where cell broadcast test alerts are enabled. Users can control these settings on their phones under Settings → Safety and emergency → Wireless emergency alerts → Test alerts. Due to network-wide testing, some users may receive the messages multiple times.
The government stressed that the alerts are purely for testing purposes and do not require any action from the public.
Once fully operational, the cell broadcast system will be used to send emergency alerts in multiple Indian languages to all mobile phones, regardless of test channel settings, to ensure maximum reach during real disasters.
The DoT has appealed to citizens for cooperation during the testing phase, reiterating that all messages received during this period are only meant to validate the system’s performance and reliability.
