Odisha: SRC warns against spreading misleading information on cyclone

BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Monday issued a stern warning against circulation of false, misleading and speculative weather forecasts through media and digital platforms about Cyclone Arnab.

In an advisory, special relief commissioner (SRC) Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said circulation of such dangerous and misleading alarm will attract provisions of Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The Section 54 says that whoever makes or circulates a false alarm or warning as to a disaster, its severity or magnitude, leading to panic will on conviction be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to one year or with fine.

He also referred to Section 51 of the Act which deals with obstruction of authorised officers in discharge of their functions and failure to comply with lawful directions issued by competent authorities, subject to the applicable statutory requirements and penalties.

The SRC said appropriate legal action would be taken in accordance with the law, against individuals or entities found deliberately circulating false disaster warnings, creating public panic or obstructing disaster management operations.

Print, electronic and digital media organisations have been advised to exercise due diligence while reporting cyclone-related developments, clearly attribute forecasts to authoritative sources and avoid presenting speculative predictions as confirmed warnings.

Social media users and digital content creators operating YouTube channels, Facebook pages, WhatsApp groups and other platforms have been cautioned against generating or circulating fabricated cyclone tracks, misleading landfall predictions, exaggerated impact assessments and false disaster alerts likely to cause public panic.