India fast advancing on coastal research: Kiren Rijiju

India advancing in coastal research, deep ocean mission: Rijiju. PM Modi keen on expanding India's role in ocean studies. NCCR completes 25 yrs of service. Experts call for National Marine Litter Policy, more studies to identify plastic leakage pathways. Marine spatial planning needed for sustainable management of coastal ecosystems. Bio-geographical info system for Indian coast needed.

Union Minister for Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju on Saturday said India was fast advancing in coastal research and deep ocean mission.

Addressing a gathering of scientists, research scholars and experts on the concluding day of a two-day international workshop on Advances in Coastal Research- Special Reference to Indo-Pacific (AdCoRe-IP2023) at the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) in Chennai, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was keen on expanding India’s role in studies pertaining to the oceans and the deep sea, especially in the context of the Blue Economy. He congratulated the NCCR on completion of 25 years of glorious service.

The workshop called for the framing of a National Marine Litter Policy. This is needed to control and manage the litter at the land boundary as it is impossible to remove such waste once it enters the marine environment. The experts also called for undertaking of more studies to identify plastic leakage pathways across the country.

NCCR Director M. V. Ramana Murthy said the concept of marine spatial planning should be extended across the Indian coast as it is very important for the sustainable management of coastal ecosystems and habitats. A detailed bio-geographical information system should be developed for the Indian coast, he added.

Beate Gabrielsen, Counsellor, Royal Norwegian Embassy, New Delhi; M. Ravichandran, Secretary, MoES; Sushilkumar, Director (research) University of South Pacific ( Fiji); Tune Usha, scientist G, NCCR and Pravakar Mishra, scientist G, NCCR, participated.