Google has stepped in to help people locate their friends and relatives stranded in the severe floods in Jammu and Kashmir.
The internet giant's much-praised app 'person finder' has tied up with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to create a database on the status of stranded and missing people in the state.
Person Finder is an open source web application that provides a registry and message board for anyone looking for an information or anyone who has an information to share on people missing or stranded in a natural calamity.
Multiple agencies are involved in the rescue operations and there was hardly any database on who is alive, missing or dead. With Google's app, the task of getting information on a victim has become relatively easier.
The data for the app is provided by NDRF and other agencies involved in the search.
The database can be accessed using the link https://www.google.org/personfinder/2014-jammu-kashmir-floods/ or on mobile phones by sending a text message "search " to the number 9773300000.
"We want more and more people including NGOs and volunteers present in Jammu and Kashmir to upload more and more information in the e-link so that we can reach to an increased number of stranded people in the state," Public Policy Analyst at Google-India Fatima Alam told PTI. The application allows individuals to post the details of and search for the status of family members or friends affected by the disaster.
"If you're worried about someone in the disaster affected area, then click on 'I'm Looking for Someone' and type in their name. If you want to let people know you're safe, or if you have heard from someone in the disaster affected area, then click on 'I have information about someone' and put in their names and details," Google said in its latest post on the e-link
The database is continuously building up and is now being used to stream information to rescue teams on ground by their control rooms in Delhi and airports in Jammu and Srinagar.
Google had launched the app during 2013 Uttarakhand floods too. It was created by volunteer Google engineers in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
Wednesday 10 September 2014
http://news.oneindia.in/india/kashmir-floods-google-chips-with-person-finder-app-1518680.html
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