‘Emergency Alert: Severe’: Mobile users receive this message today - Here's what it means

‘Emergency Alert: Severe’: A lot of people today received an ‘Emergency Alert: Severe’ message on their mobile phones. If you are one of them and have been wondering about the purpose of this alert, here we are going to tell you each and everything related to it. 

The text message was sent to people to test the emergency alert system. It was sent by the Department of Telecommunication to mobile phone users across India. This time, the 'emergency' message was sent to Airtel and Vodafone users.

Earlier, the users of Reliance Jio and BSNL had received the emergency flash message both in English and Hindi. 

“This is a SAMPLE TESTING MESSAGE sent through Cell Broadcasting System by Department of Telecommunication, Government of India. Please ignore this message as no action is required from your end. This message has been sent to test Pan-India Emergency Alert System being implemented by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). It aims to enhance public safety and provide timely alerts during emergencies,” reads the alert message sent today.

Earlier, Rajkumar Upadhyay, the Chief Executive Officer of C-DOT, said that the technology was being provided only by foreign vendors and that C-DOT is developing it in India.

The NDMA sent this message today to random people using Android devices at around 12.19 pm. The messages were sent through the Cell Broadcasting System.

The smartphone started to emit a loud beep after the alert, which displayed the message - "This is a SAMPLE TESTING MESSAGE."

According to the Department of Telecommunications Cell Broadcasting System, similar tests will be conducted in various regions at regular intervals. These tests are intended to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of mobile operators' emergency warning broadcast capabilities and cell broadcast systems.