NEW DELHI — Following the successful trial run of an indigenous Cell Broadcast system, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) confirmed Tuesday that the technology achieved its primary goal of causing widespread confusion and alarm among millions of mobile users, all without the logistical hassle of an actual natural disaster.
Developed by C-DOT, the new emergency network represents a major technological leap from the agency's 2023 SACHET initiative, which disseminated over 134 billion SMS alerts in 19 languages that citizens comfortably ignored. Officials noted the latest upgrade effectively solves the problem of public complacency by overriding phone audio settings to emit a shrieking siren alongside an "Extremely Severe" notification.
"Our stated mandate is the timely dissemination of critical information and the strengthening of disaster preparedness," said an NDMA official involved in the rollout. "By startling citizens during their morning commute, we have successfully verified that our capability to induce momentary, heart-stopping panic is now fully operational at the last mile."
At press time, the Department of Telecommunications was reportedly working on a subsequent software patch to send an "Extremely Reassuring" siren to calm users down, which engineers confirm will sound exactly like an incoming air raid.