India will develop a tsunami warning system at a cost of Rs.100-125 crores and it will be in place in two years.

"I have decided to install a 'Deep ocean Assessment Reporting technology' (DART) system which will alert us about tsunami," Minister of State for Science and Technology and Ocean Development Kapil Sibal told reporters here Monday.

"Tsunami, or quake-induced waves, moves only under water and they cannot be detected with the currently available technology. Therefore, we have decided to install the new system," he said.

Sibal was here on the occasion of the inaugural of the Indian Science Congress.

The DART device will measure changes in water pressure at the bottom of the sea, with any major change indicating the building up of a tsunami, according to Sibal.

The device will be connected with "data buoys", measuring instruments connected with satellites. Data inputs made available will be analysed with the help of software that will be developed, he said.

"We are planning to install 10 to 12 DART systems in the Arabic sea. In the Indian Ocean we would be looking at the region between Sumatra and Myanmar.
We are in touch with several international organisations that have similar technology," Sibal said.

"The whole system may cost around Rs.100-125 crores. It will take about two to two-and-a-half years to install the complete system."