In a unique initiative, the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) and the Survey of India (SoI) will map the entire 1500 km coastline to draw up a hazard based mapping process in order to help protect the coastal population from cyclones, tides and tsunami.
“Six million people are living along in coastal areas and need to be informed about sea level changes. With climate change impacting sea levels, determining and demarcating a ‘hazard line’ will help ensure greater safety for the coastal populations,” said Mr Jairam Ramesh, the minister for environment and forests.
The ministry of science & technology is also providing detailed inputs to help put together a digital map which will be prepared by 800 scientists and other technical people at a cost of Rs 135 crores.
While the digital map will be ready in two-years time, its hard copy will take another five years to put together.
Prithviraj Chavan, minister of state for science and technology and earth sciences, present on the occasion expressed satisfaction that the two scientific ministries had come together to develop the coastal areas.
Dr K. Kasturirangan, member, Planning Commission, mooted the idea of a dedicated satellite based on observation system to keep track of weather changes in the coastal regions.
The methodology for demarcating the hazard line has been worked out in consultation with reputed national institute like Survey of India (SoI), Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, Department of Ocean Development, Chennai and Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS), Trivendrum.
International expert, Prof. John Pethick, adviser to UK government on coastal issues was also brought in to firm up the methodology.
The hazard line was first tried on a pilot scale in six areas of the coastline and will now be extended to the entire coastline.
Funds for this project are being given by the World Bank.