Lok Sabha Question No. 495 (STARRED), answered on 2022-04-06
Subject: Impact of Rising Sea Levels
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: Aparajita Sarangi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *495 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 TH  APRIL, 2022

## IMPACT OF RISING SEA LEVELS

## *495.        SHRIMATI APARAJITA SARANGI:

## Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has  formulated any plans to rehabilitate people  from  lowlying  coastal  areas  who  may  be  adversely  impacted  due  to  rising  sea  levels  in  the coming decade and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether any steps have been taken to  mitigate rising sea  levels and coastal erosion and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether India has lost a portion of its original coastline due to rising sea levels and if so, the details thereof reflecting the change in coastline from 1950 to 2021; and
- (d) whether the Government plans to offer assistance and rehabilitation to the victims of climate  change  such  as  those  displaced  or  forced  to  migrate  and  if  so,  the  details thereof?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

(a) to (d) :  A statement is laid on the table of the House.

## STATEMENT LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (d) OF STARRED QUESTION NO.* 495 REGARDING 'IMPACT OF RISING SEA LEVELS FOR ANSWER ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 06, 2022

- (a) Yes,  Sir.    Sea  level  rise is  an  increase  in  the  level  of  the  world's  oceans  because of global warming caused due to burning of fossil fuels and emissions of heat-trapping gases in to the atmosphere. This results in oceans getting warmer and sea levels rising worldwide. As per the 6 th Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), relative to 1995-2014, the global mean sea level is expected to rise  by  2100  is  0.28-0.55  m  under  the  very  low  greenhouse  emission  scenario  (SSP11.9),  0.44-0.76  m  under  the  intermediate  emission  scenario  (SSP2-4.5)  and  0.98-1.88 under the very high emission scenario (SSP5-8.5). The 'XV'th Finance Commission has recommended the creation of National Disaster Risk  Management Fund (NDRMF) and State  Disaster  Risk  Management  Fund  (SDRMF)  comprising  Mitigation  Fund  at  the National and State level (NDMF/SDMF) and Response Fund at the National and State level (NDRF/ SDRF) for the award period from 2021-22 to 2022-26. The Commission has also made specific recommendations for 'Mitigation Measures to Prevent Erosion' under  NDMF  and  'Resettlement  of  Displaced  People  Affected  by  Erosion'  under NDRF.
- (b) 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.  The  observed  changes  may  be  induced  by natural  processes  including  Sea  level  rise  and  anthropogenic  activities.  There  are  526 maps prepared for entire Indian coast for identifying areas vulnerable to coastal erosion in 1:25000 scale along with 66 district maps, 10 state /UT maps. A report on 'National Assessment of Shoreline Changes along Indian Coast' was released  in July, 2018 and shared  with  various  Central  and  State  government  Agencies  and  Stakeholders  for implementing shore line protection measures. The digital and hard copy of all the Maps is  released  on  25th  March,  2022.  Ministry  through  its  institutes  is  also  providing technical  solutions  and  advice  to the  State  Governments  and  UTs  to  deal  with  coastal erosion threats.
- (c) National  Centre  for  Coastal  Research  (NCCR),  Chennai  an  attached  office  of  the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is monitoring the shoreline erosion since 1990 using remote  sensing  data  and  GIS  mapping  techniques.  About  6,907.18  km  long  Indian coastline of mainland has been analyzed from 1990 to 2018. It is noted that about 34% of the coastline  is under varying degree of erosion, 26% is of accreting nature and the remaining  40%  is  in  a  stable  state.  The  below  table  represents  the  state  wise  coastal erosion details.
- (d) Yes, Sir. The XVth Finance Commission has suggested that NDMA and/ or Ministry of Home Affairs  may develop suitable norms  for mitigation  measures to prevent erosion and  both  the  Union  and  the  State  Governments  develop  a  policy  to  deal  with  the extensive displacement of people caused by coastal and river erosion. At present, NDMA is  in  the  process  of  preparing  the  suitable norms  for  mitigation measures and developing a policy to deal with the extensive displacement of people.

| S.No          | State             | Coast Length       | Erosion   | Erosion   |
|---------------|-------------------|--------------------|-----------|-----------|
| S.No          |                   | (in km)            | Km        | %         |
| 1             | Maharashtra Goa   | Gujarat 1945.60    | 537.5     | 27.6      |
| 2             | Maharashtra Goa   | Daman& Diu 31.83   | 11.02     | 34.6      |
| 3             | Maharashtra Goa   | 739.57             | 188.26    | 25.5      |
| 4             | Maharashtra Goa   | 139.64             | 26.82     | 19.2      |
| 5             | Maharashtra Goa   | Karnataka 313.02   | 74.34     | 23.7      |
| 6             | Maharashtra Goa   | Kerala 592.96      | 275.33    | 46.4      |
| 7             | East Coast Andhra | Tamil Nadu 991.47  | 422.94    | 42.7      |
| 8             | East Coast Andhra | Puducherry 41.66   | 23.42     | 56.2      |
| 9             | East Coast Andhra | Pradesh 1027.58    | 294.89    | 28.7      |
| 10            | East Coast Andhra | Odisha 549.50      | 140.72    | 25.6      |
| 11            | East Coast Andhra | West Bengal 534.35 | 323.07    | 60.5      |
| Total 6907.18 | Total 6907.18     | Total 6907.18      | 2318.31   | 33.6      |

*****