Tsunami warning system: India to do 3D mapping of coast

Hyderabad, Dec 26: India is taking up 3D mapping of coastal areas as part of its efforts to further improve the tsunami early warning system. On the 10th anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami Friday, Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan said under the pilot project 3D Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping of Cuddalore and Nagapattinam (both in Tamil Nadu) was being taken up. "We are in the process of developing a protocol that can be replicated in future," he told reporters after inaugurating a national workshop on 'Indian tsunami early warning system: progress, challenges and future road map'. The workshop was organised at the Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) here to mark 10 years of the tsunami which claimed 2.38 lakh lives in 14 countries. As many as 10,749 people were killed in India.