MoES Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences has revealed data , Dr Jitendra Singh Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, informed the Rajya Sabha that a total of 6,632 km long mainland coastline has been surveyed and analyzed from 1990 to 2018 and it reveals about 33.6 % of the coastline is under varying degree of erosion.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today, Dr Jitendra Singh said, National Center for Coastal Research (NCCR), an attached office of MoES, is monitoring the shoreline erosion since 1990 using remote sensing data and GIS mapping techniques.
MoES
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the reasons for coastal erosions include increase in frequency of Cyclones and Sea level rise and anthropogenic activities such as construction of harbours, beach mining and building of dams. He said, there are 526 maps prepared for entire Indian coast for identifying areas vulnerable to coastal erosion in 1:25000 scales along with 66 district maps, 10 state /UT maps. A Report on “National Assessment of Shoreline Changes along Indian Coast” is released in July, 2018 and shared with various Central and State government Agencies and Stakeholders for implementing shore line protection measures. The digital and hard copy of all the Maps is released on 25th March, 2022.
The coastal erosion is a natural process due to landward displacement of the shoreline caused by the force of waves and currents. The shoreline retreat is recognized as a burgeoning threat become of global climate change and the anthropogenic activities that alters the natural process of sustained beaches and coasts. Unlike threat like tsunami or a storm surge removal and the sand from the send sharing system results in permanent changes in the shore by shape/structures, although it is a long-term coastal hazards.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) had successfully demonstrated innovative coastal erosion mitigation measures at two pilot locations.
(i) Puducherry Beach Restoration Project, Puducherry
The Submerged Reef has been sustained by MoES and beach nourishment is implemented by Govt of Puducherry under Puducherry beach restoration projects. This helped in restoration of 1.5 km long city beach after 30 years resulting escalation in tourism and fishing activities in addition to protection of coast during extreme cyclonic events.
(ii) Kadalur Periya Kuppam, Tamil Nadu
An Offshore submerged dyke was implemented. This helped in protection of three fishing Villages during extreme cyclonic events and restored lost beach that is being used for landing of fishing boats and other fishing activities.
In addition, NCCR is also providing technical support to state governments of Kerala (Chellanam, Kollamkode, Poonthura, Varkala and Shangumugham) , Odisha (Ramayapatnam, Puri, Konark and Pentha), Andhra Pradesh (Vishakapatnam) and Goa for implementation of coastal protection measures at vulnerable stretches.
