(a) whether the Government has conducted researches/studies to determine if any of India''s vast coastal areas are under the threat of submersion in the near future or in the coming decades; and
(b) if so, the details of coastal areas which are under imminent threat of such submersion and the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to deal with such threats?
THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR
MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
AND EARTH SCIENCES
(DR. JITENDRA SINGH)
(a) Yes, Sir. Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) an autonomous organization of MoES has prepared and published an atlas of Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) maps for the entire coastline of India at 1:100000 scale using data on sea level rise, coastal slope, shoreline change rate, coastal elevation, coastal geomorphology, tidal range and significant wave height. In addition, National Center for Coastal Research (NCCR), Chennai, an attached office of MoES is monitoring the shoreline changes along the Indian Coast using satellite images. The study of 28 years satellite data by NCCR, i.e. (1990-2018) indicates that 33.6 % of Indian coast is eroding with varying rate of changes.
(b) Based on the studies conducted, the length of coastal stretch recorded under very high CVI in each state and their percentage w.r.t total coastline of the State is as under:
State /Region Coastline under very high CVI class
Length (km) Percentage of total coastline
Gujarat 124 5.36
Maharashtra 11 1.22
Karnataka and Goa 48 9.54
Kerala 15 2.39
Tamil Nadu 65 6.38
Andhra Pradesh 6 0.55
Odisha 37 7.51
West Bengal 49 2.56
Lakshadweep Islands 1 0.81
Andaman Islands 24 0.96
Nicobar Islands 8 0.97
Ministry through its institutes is also providing technical solutions and advice to the State Governments and UTs to deal with coastal erosion threats.