Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Mar 29: Union Minister for Science & Technology and Minister for Earth Sciences, Dr Jitendra Singh today informed the Lok Sabha about latest developments in the process of putting in place India’s Sea Coastal management strategy.
In reply to a question, the Minister stated that the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), an attached office of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), has carried out a National shoreline change assessment mapping for Indian coast (including Odisha) using 28 years of satellite data from 1990 to 2018 to provide information for India’s Sea Coastal management strategy.
In addition, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), MoES has prepared the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) maps for the entire coastline of India by using 7 parameters such as shoreline change rate, sea-level change rate, coastal elevation, coastal slope, coastal geomorphology, significant wave height and tidal range. Further studies have been done on Multi-Hazard Vulnerability Mapping to identify potential areas of coastal inundation for the mainland of India using data on extreme water levels, coastal erosion, sea-level change and high-resolution topography.
A report on “National Assessment of Shoreline Changes along Indian Coast” was shared with various Central and State Government agencies and stakeholders for implementing shoreline protection measures.The details of habitat loss, coastal degradation and coastal erosion in Odisha are:(i) Loss of habitat and shifting of sites of turtle nesting from Bhitarakanika to Gahirmatha in Kendrapara district. (ii) Loss of vegetation and sand dunes in Pentha and Satabhaya coast.(iii) Loss of Casuarina vegetation in Siali and adjoining areas of Jagatsinghpur district (iv) Degradation of fishing hamlets in Ramachandi, and tourist beach in Puri town of Puri district. v) Damage to fishing hamlets in Podampeta, Ramiyapatnam and Gopalpur of Ganjam district.
Ministry of Earth Sciences through National Centre for Coastal Research and National Institute of Ocean Technology provides technical solutions to Government of Odisha in mitigation of coastal erosion and they are being implemented by Government of Odisha with their own funds.
In reply to another question pertaining to the same Ministry, Dr Jitendra Singh stated that the reception of Automated Weather Stations (AWS) data and its quality is being monitored round the clock at India Meteorological Department (IMD) Pune Central Receiving Servers and all IMD State Meteorological Centres. The network of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) with Sensors for the meteorological parameters viz. Atmospheric pressure, Air temperature, Relative humidity, Rainfall, Wind speed and Wind direction undergo servicing/routine preventive maintenance at regular intervals by trained manpower available at IMD offices to ensure the quality of data from the system, he added..
The Minister elaborated that the preventive maintenance ensures necessary exposure conditions at AWS sites as per World Meteorological Organization (WMO) guidelines. The technical team during preventive maintenance/servicing, carry out grass cutting, cleaning of solar panels, equipment and general upkeep of the observatory site to ensure the quality of data from the system.
While doing the calibration of sensors, the atmospheric parameters are compared with the travelling standards of sensors during preventative maintenance/ Servicing. If any sensor’s accuracy of AWS is not performing as per the WMO criteria, the sensor is replaced with new sensors.
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