Indians received a sudden wave of emergency alert notifications on their mobile phones on Thursday (July 20) morning. The test alert across multiple cities was reportedly received from the Department of Telecommunication, Government of India, leaving everyone confused.

The notification read, “Emergency Alert: Severe. This is a test alert from Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. 20-07-2023.”

The notification was received on Thursday at around 10.20 am.

The alert notification was reportedly circulated by DoT with the intention of alerting citizens about the natural calamities and extreme weather conditions. Though no official statement has been made by DoT so far on the matter, it is speculated that the alert messages could be a demo run of broadcasting emergency warnings in extreme conditions.

Many are also considering this to be a real emergency alert in view of the heavy rains in several states.

Generally, government bodies use the emergency alert, which is usually enabled by default on both Android and iOS devices so that any crucial update can be provided instantly through the mobile phones. It is mostly used in emergency situations.

After the notification was received, Twitter was flooded with queries and many sought clarifications from DoT.

A Twitter user wrote, “Phone suddenly started blaring ‘beep.’ Is anyone else getting wireless emergency alerts? I did not click on anything but somewhere I see govt of India.”

Phone suddenly started blaring "beep". is anyone else getting wireless emergency alerts? #wirelessemergencyalertsI did not click on anything but somewhere I see by govt of India #Pune

— Dipak Patil (@dpp619) July 20, 2023

“Please make policies to bring in 'Wireless Emergency Alerts' in India. It is being used effectively in countries like USA to solve cases like Disha, Child Kidnaps,” a third user suggested while tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

@narendramodi Please make policies to bring in 'Wireless Emergency Alerts' in India. It is being used effectively in countries like USA to solve cases like Disha, Child Kidnaps.

— rajesh (@rajesh_gonugunt) December 12, 2019

This situation resembles the ‘AMBER alert’ issued in the United States. It is an alert created by the CTIA, The Wireless Foundation and the US Department of Justice to locate the missing children regardless of their location. It’s a child abduction alert system to ask the public for help in locating abducted children. The emergency alert system was created and named after a girl Amber Rene Hagerman after she was abducted and later found dead.

The alerts on AMBER can be broadcasted through radio, TV, road signs, mobile phones and other platforms.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)