City tunes in to amateur radio

BANGALORE: Understanding the need and importance of timely rescue operation, Civil Defence is going to launch two ham (amateur) radios on Wednesday to enable communication in emergency situations.

The Carlton Towers incident, which claimed nine lives, and the recent Gold Tower incident, drew attention to things that hamper rescue operations.

Civil Defence has chipped in with two ham radios: Radio Amateur Civil and Emergency Unit and Amat e u r R a d i o Emergency Services.

They will be launched on Wednesday, the Fire Services Day, said Divisional warden, Civil Defence, Lion Ajay.

He said the Carlton Tower tragedy exemplified how miscommunication could claim lives. “With ham radios, we want to educate the people about the importance of sending the emergency information when in need,” he added.