Lok Sabha Question No. 3767 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-18
Subject: Rising Sea Levels in Andhra Pradesh
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: Shri Bastipati Nagaraju

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3767

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 18 TH  DECEMBER, 2024

## RISING SEA LEVELS IN ANDHRA PRADESH

## 3767. SHRI BASTIPATI NAGARAJU:

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of rising sea levels in the country during the last five years, State-wise;
- (b) whether the Government has undertaken any study to assess the States at risk due to rising sea levels in the country, especially Andhra Pradesh;
- (c) if  so,  the  details  thereof  indicating  the  number  of  people  likely  to  be  affected  and  critical infrastructure at risk due to rising sea levels, especially in Andhra Pradesh, State-wise;
- (d) if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (e)     whether the Government has plans to conduct a study on the impact of rising sea levels, if so, the details thereof including the proposed timeline for the same?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Sea  level  undergoes  large  variations  year-to-year  due  to  various  seasonal/climatic  factors. The sea level rise is a slow shift from its mean state and, hence, necessitates measurement over a much longer period, typically a period of at least 30 years. Therefore, 5-year period is not sufficient to measure the sea level rise. However, based on published scientific studies, the sea level in the Indian Ocean was observed to be rising at a rate of about 1.7 mm/year during the last century (1900-2000) and even more rapidly in the north Indian Ocean at the rate  of  about  3.3  mm/year  since  1993-2015  (MoES  Climate  Assessment  Report).  Recent research suggests that the rate of sea level rise varies significantly across the Indian coasts. An assessment  based  on  gridded  satellite  altimeter  record  (1993-2020)  for  a  few  selected locations along the Indian coast are given below:
- (b) Ministry has not undertaken any study to assess the direct impact due to rising sea levels especially  at  Andhra  Pradesh  coast.  However,  the  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and Climate  Change  under  the  Integrated  Coastal  Zone  Management  project  (ICZMP)  has demarcated the hazard line along the entire coastal belt and intertidal areas of the country including Andhra Pradesh. The hazard line is indicative of the shoreline changes, including the sea level rise due to climate change and is a projection of impact due to sea level rise, and shoreline changes over a long period of time viz. over 100 years. This line is to be used by the  coastal  state  agencies  concerned  as  a  tool  for  Disaster  Management  for  the  Coastal environment, including planning of adaptive and mitigation measures.
- (c) Ministry of Earth Sciences, through NCCR, has prepared the Shoreline Management Plan to support  the  Government  of  Andhra  Pradesh  in  addressing  coastal  erosion  and  supporting coastal infrastructure development activities. NCCR has been providing technical support in preparation of DPR, for submission to NDMA by Govt. of Andhra Pradesh as follows:
-  SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota - for mitigating coastal erosion and protecting strategic infrastructure of SHAR;
-  ONGC,  Vodalarevu  -  for  mitigating  the  erosion  and  protecting  the  strategic shorefront facilities of ONGC
-  Uppada,  Kakinada  -  proposed  an  integrated  coastal  protection  strategy  for  the Kakinada  coast  considering  the  eroding  fishing  villages  and  eco-sensitive  areas like Coringa mangrove forests.
-  Visakhapatnam  -  Prepared  an  integrated  coastal  protection strategy for the Visakhapatnam Port to Bheemunipatnam area and submitted the DPR to NDMA in  association  with  Visakhapatnam  Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA).
-  Srikakulam  -  DPR  to  address  the  issues  at  confluence  points  of  Nagavalli  and Vamsadhara rivers and to support the local fishing community.

| Location      | Trend (mm/yr)   |
|---------------|-----------------|
| Mumbai        | 4.59±0.19       |
| Mormugao      | 4.30±0.17       |
| Kochi         | 4.10±0.16       |
| Chennai       | 4.31±0.26       |
| Visakhapatnam | 4.27±0.33       |
| Paradip       | 4.43±0.36       |

The implementation of the technical solutions and strategies is to be taken up by the State Government based on its priorities and resources while NCCR can provide all the technical support to Govt. of Andhra Pradesh in this regard.

- (d) Does not arise.
- (e) Ministry  does  not  have  any  plans  to  conduct  a  study  on  the  impact  of  rising  sea  levels. However, Indian  National Centre  for  Ocean  Information  and  Services  (INCOIS),  an autonomous institute under MoES has carried out the following studies by incorporating sea level change as one among many other parameters.
- (i) Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) maps at 1:100000 scale have been prepared based on the assessment of probable implications to the coast due to sea level rise, coastal slope,  shoreline  change  rate,  coastal  elevation,  coastal  geomorphology,  tidal  range and significant wave height.
- (ii) INCOIS  has  also  prepared  the  Multi-Hazard  Vulnerability  Maps  (MHVM)  for  the mainland  of  India  at  1:25000  scale.  These  maps  were  prepared  based  on  the composites  of  extreme  water  levels  recorded  by  the  tide  gauges  and  published literature, shoreline change rate estimated from satellite data, rate of sea level change and high-resolution topographic data (Airborne Lidar Terrain Mapping, and Digital Terrain  Models  derived  from  Cartosat-1  data).  The  MHVM  indicates  the  probable areas of the coast that would get flooded due to oceanogenic disasters like tsunamis and storm surges in 100-year return periods.
- (iii) Further, NCCR, an attached office of MoES, under the shoreline mapping system, a report  on  "National  Assessment  of  Shoreline  Changes  along  Indian  Coast"  was released  in  July  2018  and  the  report  was  shared  with  various  Central  and  State Government agencies and stakeholders including Andhra Pradesh for implementing shoreline  protection  measures.  An  updated  version  of  Atlas,  along  with  a  digital version of the report, containing all the maps, was released on 25th March 2022.

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