Bhubaneswar, May 3 -- In a major shift from reactive disaster response to real-time prevention, the Centre has launched a nationwide Cell Broadcast System (CBS)-a powerful emergency alert mechanism capable of sending instant, geo-targeted warnings to millions of mobile users within seconds.

Unveiled by Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, the system has been developed indigenously by Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) under the Department of Telecommunications, in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority and the Ministry of Home Affairs, guided by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Unlike traditional SMS alerts that often get delayed during network congestion, CBS delivers priority pop-up warnin...