ALAPPUZHA: The University of Sussex, UK with the help of a team of Malayali researchers has designed a low-tech forecast service to ensure the safety of fishermen. The service christened Radio Monsoon was developed by a team led by Maxmillan Martin, a Keralite, now a research associate at School of Global Studies, University of Sussex. This will help mitigate the risk of fishermen especially during the monsoon season from June to August. The team tested the daily weather bulletin service successfully in 2014 and is now planning to expand the technology.
Martin had first conceived the idea for Radio Monsoon in collaboration with his friends after the tsunami struck in 2004. In an e-mail interaction, Martin told this newspaper that the idea was to share daily marine forecast with seagoing fishermen. The team is considering tie-ups with the All India Radio and private radio stations. The radio will offer daily bulletins in Malayalam based on the data on weather, wind, wave, and ocean currents provided by the India Meteorological Department and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services. The team has opted for Thiruvananthapuram district for the pilot project.
