Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning grp to meet in Bali

New Delhi, Jul 20: The Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System will meet in Bali from July 31 to August 2 to assess the first real test of the system, to review progress on its development and revise priorities in light of the latest tsunami in Indonesia.

So far, 26 out of a possible 29 national tsunami warning centres, capable of receiving and distributing tsunami advisories round the clock have been set up in Indian Ocean countries.

''The seismographic network has been improved, with 25 new stations being deployed that will be linked that will be linked in real-time to analysis centres. There are also three Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) sensors. The Commission for the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) is also contributing data from seismographic stations,'' the UNESCO said today.

At present, information bulletins are issued from Japan and Hawaii, pending a final decision on the location of regional centres in the Indian Ocean. This will be facilitated when important additional contributions, includiung instruments such as deep-sea pressure centres and ground deformation sensors become available in late 2007 or 2008, it said.

The Indian Ocean System constitutes a vital component of a global system, and the UNESCO-IOC has been working towards it. To this end, warning systems are also being established in North East Atlantic, Mediterranean and Adjoining Seas, and the Caribbean.

Protection is also being reinforced in the South West Pacific and the South China Sea.

UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura, meanwhile, extended his condolences to the victims of Tuesday's tsunami in Indonesia and urged Indian Ocean nations to maintain the momentum in establishing their national warning systems to ''make the final mile to the people on the coast.'' Mr Matsuura said the Indian Ocean tsunami warning system established by the countries in the region with UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission over the past 18 months functioned well on Tuesday, with national authorities receiving the information allowing them to to act.

In fact, ''in Jakarta, the tsunami advisory was received only 19 minutes after the earthquake,'' he said. ''However, several hundred people still lost their lives and tens of thousands more have lost their homes and livelihoods. This system still has big gaps, notably in getting the warnings to coastal communities in time.'' The UNESCO Director-General said it is important to maintain the momentum of the past 18 months and to reinforce national capacities to react effectively when such disasters strike.

UNI