VISAKHAPATNAM: The National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), one of the 38 research laboratories under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, will undertake a project in mission mode to map the coastline of Andhra Pradesh and other maritime States to identify highly vulnerable areas.
In the first phase, mapping of 974-km coastline of AP, the second largest after Gujarat, will be undertaken from April 1. “We will deploy special teams dedicated to mapping at various places and grade the beachfront based on their vulnerability,” Dona Paula (Goa) headquartered NIO’s acting director S. Prasanna Kumar told The Hindu in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.
He said they would identify hotspots – highly vulnerable areas and submit recommendations to the authorities not to take up any construction activity in those locations. The special stations would be located in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha in the first phase with trained manpower.
High-tech instruments
Dr. Prasanna Kumar said they would deploy high-tech instruments for wave and current measurements. The concentration of pollution would also be estimated. The entire study would be taken up in collaboration with educational institutions like Andhra University and IITs.
He said NIO had decided to launch four missions out of which the beachfront study was one of the focus areas. The other missions include studies on coastal processes, geo resources, role of oceans and climate change and monsoon, scientific understanding and identification of reasons for fishery resources depletion.
Niti Aayog promises funds
Niti Aayog has promised to allocate funds. In all, CSIR will launch 15 missions from the new financial year.
Dr. Prasanna Kumar said the initial phase of the beachfront study would continue for three years. Later it would be extended to all the maritime States for another four years.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid emphasis for research on ocean sciences following the decision to develop a blue economy.
