CHENNAI: Two years after tsunami battered it, Nagapattinam may finally have the solution to empower local communities to cope with disasters.

On Friday, when the country's first community radio on disaster management, Kalanjiyam, is launched from Chennai and starts operating from Vizhundhamavadi village in Nagapattinam, `technology for the grassroots' will no longer remain a slogan.

A partnership between the local community, Madurai-based Dhan Foundation and Bangalore-based tech forum Voices, the radio station is financed by the United Nations Development Programme.

The Foundation will build upon its experience in running information kiosks in all tsunami-affected coastal hamlets and services of trained `radio volunteers' from among the local educated youth.

"Apart from being a home-grown warning system, the radio station will seek to inform the local community on coping with disasters, seeking and mobilising help and accessing locally available livelihood opportunities. Initially, we will narrowcast up to a two-km radius. Once our application with the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry is cleared, we will switch over to broadcast, covering a 15 to 20 km radius," says a Foundation spokesperson.

A state-of-the-art production studio has already been set up at Vizhundhamavadi. Initially, Kalanjiyam will beam for about half an hour everyday and will shortly increase this to one hour. Once the licence comes, the station will function six hours a day. The total cost of the project, including operation and management, works out to Rs. 13 lakh.

In the initial stages, the Foundation will provide the expertise and Voices the tech support.

Kalanjiyam is designed to become self-reliant in two years.

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