Odisha government should promote amateur HAM radio enthusiasts in all blocks of Odisha to increase preparedness at the time of communication failure, especially during natural calamities, says members of Amateur Radio Society of Odisha (ARSO).
But ARSO laments that during cyclone Fani, Odisha government did not take their direct help, and preferred to use HAM operators from West Bengal and Hyderabad, who faced problems with respect to language and lack of knowledge of localities.
The group has 25 licensed HAM radio operators who regularly update the technology along with their operational skill. In February this year, they had tested their communication skills at an uninhabited island within Chilika lake to check their preparedness for natural calamities like cyclonic storms.
During the cyclone Fani, members of ARSO reached Puri on May 4 to provide support to the public after all conventional modes of communication had gotten snapped after landfall of the cyclone. Connecting to internet in Berhampur via HAM, they were able to reach out to social media; they asked people living outside to provide address of their family members in the cyclone-devastated regions so that news about their condition could be checked and passed on. Hundreds of families of Puri and Chandanpur areas are said to have benefited from this.