By IANS
Chennai : Fishermen in Bay of Bengal now have help on hand in case of any crisis as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Tuesday handed over emergency alert transmitters to the fishing community along the Tamil Nadu coast.
At a function held at the Coast Guard premises here, State Fisheries Minister K.P.P. Samy handed over five transmitters, each costing about Rs.10,000, free of cost to fishermen.
R.R. Navalgund, director of ISRO’s Ahmedabad-based Space Application Centre, and Inspector General Rajendra Singh, commander of the Coast Guard (Eastern Command) were present on the occasion.
The transmitter developed by ISRO has a battery life of 24-48 hours after activation. It is fitted to the fishing boat and, on activation, gives the boat’s coordinates under the global positioning system (GPS) to the Coast Guard regional headquarters in Chennai.
Distress alerts will be picked up by an Insat satellite and relayed to the reception centre at the Chennai Coast Guard facility.
Situations like medical emergency, fire on board, sinking or capture of boats can be reported to authorities on shore for immediate action.