To avoid communication blackouts that led to 20 fishermen going missing in the aftermath of Cyclone Ockhi in 2017, a slew of government departments, research agencies and private companies have developed GEMINI, a portable receiver linked to ISRO satellites, that is “fail-proof” and warn fishermen of danger.

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), a Hyderabad institute collaborated with Accord, a private company, to develop a box-shaped receiver that has an antenna and in-built battery that can last three to four days, according to a brochure describing the device.

GEMINI works on GAGAN, developed by ISRO and the Airports Authority of India, and is an India-made global positioning system. It relies on the positioning system of ISRO’s GSAT satellites.

Storm alerts

When GEMINI is connected to an app, it also lets fishermen know the probability of fish catch in the surrounding seas.

“Even now we provide services such as storm alerts and advisories of potential fish catch. However, it’s dependent on the mobile services provided by your phone company,” said Satish Shenoi, director, INCOIS.

At Rs. 9,000 a device, it’s relatively expensive, say officials, but attempts are on to subsidise it by as much as 90%.

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