Fishermen can now receive weather alerts, information on potential fishing zones and tsunami warnings from scientists directly on their mobile phones. Sagar Vani, a new software program from scientists at Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, will help provide this information in all coastal languages, including Tamil, as well as in Hindi and English. The researchers have also developed a mobile app for Android phones that fishermen can download to receive alerts before heading out to sea. The software program runs an integrated information dissemination system, which the INCOIS scientists developed to send out alerts and advisories in various forms including by SMS, email, radio and television from the sources directly to end users. The researchers expect the system to reach up to 9 lakh people in the fishing industry. Launched by union minister Harsh Vardhan in July, Sagar Vani, the idea was “to develop a foolproof system that will send information to the end user without any delay”, said INCOIS Ocean Science and Information Services Group head Balakrishnan Nair T M. The authorities currently send out weather bulletins twice a day to state fisheries departments, disaster management authorities and NGOs, which disseminate them to end users like fishermen. Various departments and agencies separately convey information to fishermen on ocean forecasts, fishing information and other warnings. What this means is fishermen often received vital information with a sizeable delay. INCOIS scientists said they developed Sagar Vani to cut through the delay and send all the data together directly to the user. The system has a central server that integrates various modes of broadcast. The server receives information on potential fishing zones, ocean forecasts, high wave alerts and tsunami early warnings, collates the information and sends it to the user through SMS, voicemail, email, audio advisory, on the mobile app, via social media, fax, digital display boards, radio, television, IVRS and cloud channels. The program will update forecasts on weather systems as and when required, the researchers said. “We have used machine learning capabilities, advanced artificial intelligence, in the system to send out the information in all coastal languages,” Nair said. “We are in the process of updating our database and have tied up with cable TV operators and government broadcasters DD and AIR.”