Lok Sabha Question No. 186 (STARRED), answered on 2017-03-15
Subject: Earth Sciences Schemes
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: George Baker, Richard Hay

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION No. *186 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2017

## EARTH SCIENCES SCHEMES

- *186.        SHRI GEORGE BAKER: PROF. RICHARD HAY:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  schemes  or  projects  of  Earth  Sciences implemented  or under implementation by the  Government during  each  of  the  last  three  years  and  the  current  year, State/UT-wise;
- (b) the details of the funds sanctioned, allocated and utilised under these schemes during the above period, State/UT-wise;
- (c) the  progress  made  under  these  schemes  during  the  above period;
- (d) whether the Government is satisfied with the achievements of the above schemes; and
- (e) if not, the reasons therefor and the remedial action taken by the Government in this regard?

MINISTER FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND

## ANSWER MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES (Dr. HARSH VARDHAN)

(a) to (e) : A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

- STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *186 REGARDING EARTH SCIENCES SCHEMES FOR ANSWER ON 15 th  March, 2017.
- (a) The  mandate  of  the  Ministry  of  Earth  Sciences  (MoES)  is  to provide  services  for  weather,  climate,  ocean  and  coastal  state, hydrology,  seismology  and  natural  hazards;  to  explore  marine living and non-living resources in a sustainable way and to explore the  three  polar-regions  (Arctic,  Antarctic  and  Himalayas).  To achieve this mandate, the research & development and operational activities of MoES are carried out under the following five major  programs:
1. Atmosphere  and  Climate  Research  -  Modelling,  Observing Systems and Services (ACROSS)
2. Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources, Modelling and Science (OSTORMS)
3. Polar and Cryosphere Research (PACER)
- 4.
- Seismology and Geosciences (SAGE)
5. Research, Education, Outreach and Training (REACHOUT)

The above schemes are central sector schemes. They are for the entire country and not specific to any State/UT.

- (b) The details of the funds sanctioned, allocated and utilised under these schemes during the last three years are in Annexure-I.
- (c)   The progress made under these schemes during the above period is as follows:
- (i) ACROSS:
-  Augmentation of surface and upper air observational network and Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) Network. Better quality and high resolution digital data from INSAT-3D satellite and other satellites.
-  Establishment  of  High  Performance  Computing  System  with 1.2  Petaflop  speed  to  meet  the  modelling requirements. This system  is  now  the  second  fastest  computing  system  in  the country.
-  Under the National Monsoon Mission, a high resolution global deterministic weather prediction model has been commissioned for generating operational weather forecasts at a horizontal resolution of 12 km. With this, MoES has attained the same capability as in USA in using high resolution weather prediction models. Many major improvements have been made in  data assimilation for the ingestion of data from the Indian and International satellites in numerical models.
-  Development of first version of Earth System Model (ESM) with good fidelity in simulating the present climate and its variability. The ESM will be the first climate model from India to  contribute  to  the  forthcoming  sixth INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC) climate change assessment process.
-  Expansion of Agro-meteorological Advisory Services. Presently around  2.06  Crores  farmers  are  directly  benefitted  by  this service. As per the third party assessment made by NATIONAL COUNCIL  OF  APPLIED  ECONOMIC  RESEARCH  (NCAER), based on these agro-meteorological advisories, farmers made economic benefits exceeding Rs. 42,000 crores.
-  Noteworthy  improvement  was  made  in  track  and  intensity forecast  of  the  tropical  cyclones  (24  hour  forecast  error  in track prediction reduced from 141 km to 97 km and Landfall error  from  99  km  to  56  km  during  2006  to  2015).  Accurate forecasts of the recent cyclones, Phailin, HudHud and Vardah saved thousands of human lives.
-  Noticeable improvements achieved in skills of Heavy Rainfall Forecasts  (False  Alarm  Rate  reduced  from  46%  to  11%  and Probability of Detection increased from 49% to 67% from 2002 to 2015).
-  For  the  first  time  in  2016,  forecasts  on  different  time  scales during  the  hot  weather  season  (April  to  May)  including  heat waves were issued by the India Meteorological Department.
-  Many observational campaigns have been taken up as special atmospheric observations help us to understand model deficiencies  and  to  improve  the  models.  A  large-scale  joint India-UK  observational  campaign  was  carried  out  during  the period June-July 2016, which involved the deployment of UK's BAe-146-301 atmospheric research aircraft with sophisticated scientific  instruments  and  India's  Sagar  Nidhi  and  Sindhu Sadhna research ships.
-  An  observational  campaign  to  understand  different  physical features of Fog  and  factors responsible for its genesis, intensity and duration was initiated during December 2016 at the  Indira  Gandhi  International  Airport  (IGIA)  and  at   INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH (ICAR)INDIAN AGRICULTURAL  RESEARCH  INSTITUTE  (IARI)  in  New  Delhi. These observations will be useful for improving model forecasts.
-  A  High  Altitude  Cloud  Physics  Laboratory  with  a  complete range of the observational system has been set-up at Mahabaleshwar to study the interaction of clouds with other environmental  parameters  through  continuous  observations inside the clouds at high altitude.
-  The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) system has been developed and deployed at Delhi, Pune and Mumbai and an Air Quality Forecasting Model has been set up for three cities to forecast the air quality of various  pollutants  along  with weather parameters with a lead time of 1-3 days.

## (ii)

## OSTORMS

-  Augmentation  of  Ocean  Observing  Systems  in  the  Indian Ocean through national and international efforts.
-  Provided a suite of advisory services on 24x7 basis, such as Tsunami  early  earning,  Potential  Fishing  Zone,  Ocean  State forecast, coral bleach alert to cater to various sectors.
-  The  Ocean  State  Forecast  service  has  been  extended  for neighbouring countries, Seychelles and Sri Lanka for providing 3-day forecasts on winds, waves, currents, temperature.
-  Launching of International Indian Ocean Expedition-2 (IIOE-2) towards  promotion  of  ocean  science  in  the  Indian  Ocean Region.
-  Operationalization of International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography at Hyderabad.
-  The  Search  and  Rescue  Aid  Tool  (SARAT)  was  dedicated  to the Nation It was used to provide Search And Rescue support to  all  the  concerned  in  connection  with  the  missing  AN  32 aircraft, which was reportedly missing off Chennai on 22 July 2016.
-  The online oil spill advisory module has been further updated to  facilitate  the  indication  of  eco-sensitive  zones,  potential fishing  zones,  fishing  avoidance  zone  during  the  event  of  oil spill.
- 
- Deployment of Artic Ocean Observing system was completed.
-  Indigenously developed 500 m depth rated shallow water/Polar Remotely  Operated  Vehicle  (PROVe).  It  was  successfully deployed  in  the  Andaman  coral  Islands  and  the  vehicle  was successfully  maneuvered  in  the  undulating  reef  terrain  to record high quality underwater visuals of coral reef biodiversity with spectral irradiance.
-  Developed  backward  bent  ducted  buoy  to  generate  power from  sea  waves,  drifter  buoy,  deep  ocean  bottom  pressure recorder, and autonomous passive acoustic monitoring system.
-  Beach nourishment technique was demonstrated Pondicherry coast leading to gain of 60 m wide beach.
- at
-  65% of deep water topographic surveys of Exclusive Economic Zone beyond 500 m water depth were completed.
-  Ministry of Earth Sciences signed a 15-year contract with the International  Seabed  Authority  (ISA),  for  exploration  of  PolyMetallic Sulphides (PMS) in Indian Ocean.
-  India  became  a  member  of  the  International  Energy  AgencyOcean  Energy  Systems  (IEA-OES)  through  signing  of  the Implementing Agreement. By becoming a member of the IEAOES,  India  will  have  access  to  advanced  R&D  teams  and technologies across the world.

## (iii) PACER

-  Established a high altitude research station in Himalaya called HIMANSH at a remote region in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.
-  Deployed India's first multi-sensor moored sub-surface observatory (IndARC) at a water depth of ~180 m in the Arctic.
-  India  successfully  commenced  operations  at  the  3 rd   Indian Permanent Research Station Bharati, at Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica.
-  Three  (34 th ,  35 th and  36 th )  Indian  Scientific  expeditions  to Antarctica were launched and executed successfully.
-  India  has  been  accorded  the  Observer  status  in  the  Arctic Council in recognition of her scientific contributions endeavours in Polar research.
-  Research studies were carried out on variability of cryosphere using  remote  sensed  data,  southern  Indian  Ocean  and  past climate and oceanic variability of polar regions.

## (iv)

## SAGE

-  Setting up of the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) at New Delhi to provide added thrust to seismological services in the country.
-  Strengthening of the Seismic Observational Network: With 23 upgraded  seismic  observatories,  21  additional  stations,  and dedicated  networks  in  NE  India  and  Delhi,  NCS  now  has  84 national observatories with real time data streaming through VSAT connectivity.
-  VSAT communication facilities to additional 50 seismic stations as well as 30 GPS stations in the country under the Indian Seismic and GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) Network (ISGN). With the current seismic network, and data centers, an earthquake of M>3 anywhere in the country can be located in 3-5 minutes.
-  The  Scientific  Deep  Drilling  Project  at  Koyna,  Maharashtra started  in  2016  with  the  aim  of  setting  up  of  borehole observatory  at  3.0  to  5.0  km  depths  for  directly  measuring parameters  in  the  near  field  of  earthquakes  -  before,  during and after their occurrence.
-  In  order  to  undertake  micro-zonation,  studies  of  30  selected cities, falling in seismic zone V, IV, III and State Capitals has been  initiated.  As  a  part  of  this  exercise,  Micro-zonation  of Delhi  has  been  completed  based  on  Probabilistic  Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA).
-  Setting  up  of  Multi-Parameter  Geophysical  Observatories  at Ghuttu,  in  NW  Himalaya  and  Imphal  in  NE  region  to  monitor various geophysical, geochemical and seismological precursory signals.
-  Launching of a facility for Geochronology with an objective to generate high-quality geo-chronological data and its characterization.
-  For the first time, Deep Sea Drilling in the Laxmi Basin enabled scientists  to  collect  more  than  1700m  long  sediment  cores from the Eastern Arabian Sea to understand possible tectonoclimatic link.
-  First time successful deployments of Ocean Bottom Seismometers  in  the  Indian  Ocean  Geoidal  Low  region  to understand  possible  deep  seated  sources  for  remarkable geoid anomaly in the Indian Ocean.

## (v) REACHOUT

-  Under this program, Ministry has supported 55 focused research  projects  in  the  area  of  Atmospheric  Science  and Geoscience  during  the  last  3  years  and  current  year.    As human  resource  development  and  capacity  building,    the ministry has supported the following :
-  M.Tech/Ph.D. programme by sponsorship 5  M.Tech and 5 PhD students in Atmospheric-Oceanic Sciences & Technology   at IIT Delhi ,
-  User-oriented M.Tech. programme on Ocean technology at IIT Madras
-  2  year  M.Sc.  course  in  Ocean  &  Atmospheric  Sciences  in University of Hyderabad.
-  Established MoES  Chairs at IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Gandhinagar.
-  Following  specialized  lab  facilities  have  also  been  set-up  as National Facilities for use by researchers:
- (a) Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Measurement facility for  14 C at Inter-University Accelerator Centre , New
- Delhi.
- (b) Laser Heating Diamond Anvil Cell at INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH (IISER) Kolkata.
- (d)
- (e)
- (c) Laser  Raman  Spectrometer  at  National  Center  for  Earth Science Studies (NCESS), Trivandrum.
-  Three Earth Science and Technology Cells (ESTC) have been established in various universities for conducting research in different specialized areas of marine and atmospheric sciences during the last 3 years as follows:
- (a) Marine Coastal Ecology of west Coast of India at M.K. Bhavnagar University
- (b) Satellite  Meteorology  at SRM  University  Katanklathur, Chennai (SRMU), Tamilnadu
- (c) Coastal  and  Ocean  Technology   at NITK,  Surathkal, Mangalore, Karnataka
-  Successful  international  cooperation  with  different  countries for collaborative research and human resources development. The  Cooperation  has  helped  the  ministry  to  support  training young scientists in various aspects of Earth Sciences.
-  Regional leadership through Bay of Bengal Initiative for MultiSectoral  Technical  and  Economic  Cooperation  (BIMSTEC), Regional  Integrated  Multi-Hazard  Early  Warning  System  for Africa and Asia (RIMES), and International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography (ITCOocean).
- Yes.
- Not Applicable.

## Annexure-I

## Details of funds sanctioned, allocated and utilised under the schemes during the last three years.

|   N o | Name of Scheme                               | RE 2013 -14   | Ac tua l 20 13- 14   | RE 201 4-15   | Act ual 201 4-15                         | Rationalize d Schemes                                       | R.E. 2015 -16   | Actu al 2015 -16   | RE 2016- 17   | Exp. as on 10- 03- 2017   |
|-------|----------------------------------------------|---------------|----------------------|---------------|------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------|--------------------|---------------|---------------------------|
|     1 | Atmospheric Observation Systems 129. 00      | 11 7.2 5      | 87. 00               | 103. 61       | Atmosphere & Climate Research- Modelling | 312. 00                                                     | 278. 87         | 449.9 7            |               | 192.9 5                   |
|     2 | Services Atmospheric Process & Modeling 53.0 | 0 50. 08      | 64. 63               |               | 64.3 9                                   | Observing Systems & Services                                |                 |                    |               |                           |
|     3 | Climate Change 30.0 0                        | 29. 82        | 32. 59               |               | 32.5 6                                   | (ACROSS)                                                    |                 |                    |               |                           |
|     4 | High Performance Computing 104. 00           | 10 3.0 2      |                      | 68. 54        | 68.5 3                                   |                                                             | 0.50            | 0.36               |               |                           |
|     5 | Airborne Platforms 0.01                      | 0.0 0         |                      | 10. 00        | 10                                       | Airborne Platforms                                          | 80.0 0 6        | 76.4               |               |                           |
|     6 | Ocean Research Vessels                       | 55.4 8 56. 47 |                      | 36. 04        | 36.0 4                                   | for Institute Observation s Ocean Research Vessels(AP OORV) |                 |                    |               |                           |
|     7 | Ocean Observations 40.0 0 &                  | 38. 57 0      |                      | 45. 00        | 44.4 9                                   | Ocean Services Resources Science                            | 295. 50 279. 70 |                    | 315.0 0       | 295.3 3                   |
|     8 | Ocean Science Services 70.0                  | 68. 30        |                      | 71. 08        | 68.5                                     | Technology Observation                                      |                 |                    |               |                           |
|     9 | Ocean Survey & Mineral Resources 50.0 0      | 41. 03        |                      | 60. 43        | 60.4 2                                   | s Modelling and                                             |                 |                    |               |                           |
|    10 | Ocean Technology 83.5 2                      | 83. 52        |                      | 51. 00        | 51                                       | (O-STORMS                                                   |                 |                    |               |                           |

| 11   | Polar Sciences & Cryosphere               | 155. 99   | 15 5.9 8   | 200 .00   | 163. 55   |                     | 123. 50   | 118. 66   | 114.9 9   | 100.0 1   |
|------|-------------------------------------------|-----------|------------|-----------|-----------|---------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 12   | Seismological Research                    | 57.0 0    | 46. 97     | 74. 35    | 74.5 6    | Seismologic al &    | 131. 50   | 117. 78   | 60.00     | 27.54     |
| 13   | Geosciences                               | 15.0 0    | 8.1 1      | 53. 51    | 53.5      | Geoscience s (SAGE) |           |           |           |           |
| 14   | Research, Education Training and Outreach | 82.0 0    | 76. 88     | 70. 83    | 69.1 3    |                     | 70.0 0    | 60.9 9    | 40.00     | 30.50     |
| 15   | Assistance to Autonomous bodies           |           |            |           |           |                     |           |           | 159.8 7   | 92.84     |
|      | Total                                     | 925. 00   | 87 6.0 0   | 925 .00   | 900. 28   |                     | 1013 .00  | 932. 93   | 1139. 83  | 739.1 7   |