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Rise in sea level threatens 6,000 kms of coastline

About 6,000 km of India's coastline is directly threatened by a steady rise in the sea level.

Among the most vulnerable areas of the coast are in Gujarat, Bombay, southern Kerala and the deltas of the Cauvery in Tamil Nadu, the Krishna and Godavari in Andhra Pradesh, the Mahanadi in Orissa and the Ganga in West Bengal.

According to the Compendium of Environment Statistics brought out by the Central Statistical Organisation the Lakshadweep archipelago will be submerged if the current rise continues. Currently, the region most vulnerable to an accelerated rise in sea levels are the low-lying coral atolls of the islands.

The east coast is more vulnerable to damage because of the steeper continental slope and due to the large frequency of storks in the area.

The report says the rise in sea level has already affected 7.25 per cent of the population and 4.84 per cent of the land in Goa; In West Bengal, 2.35 per cent of the population and 1.88 per cent of land area; in Tamil Nadu, 2.91 per cent of the population and 0.52 per cent of the land; in Gujarat 1.75 per cent of the population and 0.18 per cent of the land; in Maharashtra 1.75 per cent of the population and 0.18 per cent of the land; and 0.72 per cent of the people in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Karnataka has lost 0.15 per cent of the land, affecting about 0.56 per cent of the population; in Andhra Pradesh 0.19 percentage of state area was inundated and 0.93 percentage of the state's population has been affected.

The report says the projected global warming is expected to increase global sea levels by expanding ocean water, melting mountain glaciers, and causing the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica to melt or slide into the oceans. A rise in the sea level would, the report warned, inundate wastelands and lowlands, erode shore line, exacerbate coastal flooding, increase the salinity of estuaries and aquifiers and affect water quality.

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