COASTLINE EROSION

Sept. 2, 2018

According to a report by National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), almost one-third of India’s 6,632km coastline was lost to soil erosion between 1990 and 2016.

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National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) has released a report titled “National Assessment of Shoreline Changes along Indian coast”.
In this, it mapped the shoreline changes along the Indian coast for the last 26 years.
Key findings:
- The Indian mainland has lost about 234.25sq. km of land to the sea from 1990 to 2016. West Bengal lost maximum land of 99.05sq. km during the period
- While 33% of the coast was under erosion, only 29% was accreting (growing) and 38% was in stable state.
- Eastern coast underwent more erosion due to frequent cyclonic activities from Bay of Bengal in past 3 decades, compared to the western coast, which remained largely stable.
- Coastlines of West Bengal (63%) and Puducherry (57%) are most-vulnerable to erosion, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu at 45% and 41%, respectively.
- Odisha on the eastern coast is the only state where the coast witnessed expansion of more than 50%.
Comment: Changing shorelines not only threaten the coastal infrastructure and cause potential loss to the economy, but could also impact the fishing industry.