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GS Paper: GS1-14.Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc.,

  • What are Heatwaves?

    India is gripped in the wrath of a long spell of heatwaves that too in the early month of April.

    What is a Heatwave and when is it declared?

    • Heatwaves occur over India between March and June.
    • IMD declares a heatwave event when the maximum (day) temperature for a location in the plains crosses 40 degrees Celsius.
    • Over the hills, the threshold temperature is 30 degrees Celsius.

    How are they formed?

    • Heatwaves form when high pressure aloft (3,000–7,600 metres) strengthens and remains over a region for several days up to several weeks.
    • This is common in summer (in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres) as the jet stream ‘follows the sun’.
    • On the equator side of the jet stream, in the upper layers of the atmosphere, is the high pressure area.
    • Summertime weather patterns are generally slower to change than in winter. As a result, this upper level high pressure also moves slowly.
    • Under high pressure, the air subsides (sinks) toward the surface, warming and drying adiabatically, inhibiting convection and preventing the formation of clouds.
    • Reduction of clouds increases shortwave radiation reaching the surface.
    • A low pressure at the surface leads to surface wind from lower latitudes that brings warm air, enhancing the warming.
    • Alternatively, the surface winds could blow from the hot continental interior towards the coastal zone, leading to heat waves.

    Following criteria are used to declare heatwave:

    To declare heatwave, the below criteria should be met at least in 2 stations in a Meteorological subdivision for at least two consecutive days and it will be declared on the second day.

    1. a) Based on Departure from Normal
    • Heat Wave: Departure from normal is 4.5°C to 6.4°C
    • Severe Heat Wave: Departure from normal is >6.4°C
    1. b) Based on Actual Maximum Temperature (for plains only)
    • Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥ 45°C
    • Severe Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥47°C

    How long can a heatwave spell last?

    • A heatwave spell generally lasts for a minimum of four days. On some occasions, it can extend up to seven or ten days.
    • The longest recorded heatwave spell, in recent years, was between 18 and 31 May 2015.

    Impact of Heat Waves:

    Heat Strokes: The very high temperatures or humid conditions pose an elevated risk of heat stroke or heat exhaustion.

    Older people and people with chronic illness such as heart disease, respiratory disease, and diabetes are more susceptible to heatstroke, as the body’s ability to regulate heat deteriorates with age.

    Increased Healthcare Costs: Effects from extreme heat are also associated with increased hospitalisations and emergency room visits, increased deaths from cardio-respiratory and other diseases, mental health issues, adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes, etc.

    Lessens Workers’ Productivity: Extreme heat also lessens worker productivity, especially among the more than 1 billion workers who are exposed to high heat on a regular basis. These workers often report reduced work output due to heat stress.

    Risk of Wildfires: The heat domes act as fuel to wildfires, which destroys a lot of land area every year in countries like the US.

    Prevents Cloud Formation: The condition also prevents clouds from forming, allowing for more radiation from the sun to hit the ground.

    Effect on Vegetation: The trapping of heat can also damage crops, dry out vegetation and result in droughts.

    Increased Energy Demands: The sweltering heat wave also leads to rise in energy demand, especially electricity, leading to pushing up rates.

    Power Related Issues: Heat waves are often high mortality disasters.

    Avoiding heat-related disasters depends on the resilience of the electrical grid, which can fail if electricity demand due to air conditioning use exceeds supply.

    As a result, there is the double risk of infrastructure failure and health impacts.

    • Initiatives Taken:
      • Global:
        • Global forums dealing with climate change issues—such as the World Health Organization, World Economic Forum, First Global Forum on Heat and Health, and the Global Forum for Environment-OECD—also focus on heat waves by investing in research on health risks of extreme heat, climate and weather information, advice on surviving heat waves, partnerships and capacity building, and communications and outreach.
      • Indian:
        • The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued guidelines on dealing with heatwaves.
          • However, India does not recognise heatwaves as a disasterunder its Disaster Management Act (2005).

    Way Forward

    • Adopting A More Sensitive Approach: The impact of such excessive heat needs to be understood from the point of view of common people — daily labourers; farmers; traders; fishermen etc.
      • Beyond numbers and graphs that capture the impact of the climate crisis, the human experience of living in oppressive heat needs to be understood by policymakers and measures should be taken accordingly.
    • Cooling Shelters: The government should come out with a policy to deal with the suffering and disability caused by heat extremes in different parts of the country.
      • Water kiosks, staggered outdoor work hours, cool roofs for buildings and homes are certain things that should be put in place immediately.
      • A number of emergency cooling shelters can be opened so that people without domestic air conditioning units can escape the heat.
        • Portable air-conditioning units, along with fans and even ice are also useful.
    • Passive Cooling to Reduce Urban Heat Islands: Passive cooling technology, a widely-used strategy to create naturally ventilated buildings, can be a vital alternative to address the urban heat island for residential and commercial buildings.
      • The IPCC report cites ancient Indian building designs that have used this technology, which could be adapted to modern facilities in the context of global warming.
    • Action Plans Similar to Ahmedabad: As per the IPCC Report, Ahmedabad has shown the way to combat heat extremes by heat-proofing buildings.
      • After the heat action plan was implemented in 2013 in Ahmedabad, heat-related mortality reduced by 30% to 40% over the years. Similar plans like that of Ahmedabad can be implemented in vulnerable regions.
    • Replacing Dark Roofs: A big reason that cities are so much hotter than rural areas is that they are covered by dark roofs, roads and parking lots that absorb and retain heat.
      • One of the long term solutions can be replacing the dark surfaces with lighter and more reflective materials; it will result in a comparatively cooler environment.

     

     

  • Palli in Jammu becomes India’s First Carbon-Neutral Panchayat

    Palli village in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir has become the first panchayat in the country to become carbon-neutral, fully powered by solar energy.

    Various feats achieved

    • All its records have been digitised and the benefits of all the Central schemes are available in this village around 17 km from Jammu.
    • Palli village, with its enthusiastic and dedicated elected representatives full of dreams, has shown how to implement the Glasgow pledge (Panchamrita) made by PM Modi.
    • It has set an example of the slogan Sabka Prayas (everyone’s efforts).

    What is Carbon Neutrality?

    • Carbon neutrality refers to achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions or buying enough carbon credits to make up the difference.
    • This can be done by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society.
    •  It is used in the context of carbon dioxide-releasing processes associated with transportation, energy production, agriculture, and industry.
    •  The term carbon neutral also includes other greenhouse gases, usually carbon-based, measured in terms of their carbon dioxide equivalence.
    • The term “net-zero” is increasingly used to describe a broader and more comprehensive commitment to decarbonization and climate action.
    • Net-zero emissions are achieved when your organization’s emissions of all greenhouse gases (CO2-e) are balanced by greenhouse gas removals

    Methodology

    Carbon-neutral status can be achieved in two ways:

    • Carbon offsetting: Balancing carbon dioxide emissions with carbon offsets — the process of reducing or avoiding greenhouse gas emissions or removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to make up for emissions elsewhere. If the total greenhouse gasses emitted is equal to the total amount avoided or removed, then the two effects cancel each other out and the net emissions are ‘neutral’.
    • Reducing emissions: Reducing carbon emissions can be done by moving towards energy sources and industrial processes that produce fewer greenhouse gases, thereby transitioning to a low-carbon economy. Shifting towards the use of renewable energy such as hydro, wind, geothermal, and solar power, as well as nuclear power, reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

    Agreement and Target

    • The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016.
    • Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
    • Article 4.1 of the Paris Agreement asks countries to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible.
    • It also requires countries to undertake rapid reductions in carbon emissions to achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases.

    Back2Basics:  Panchamrita

    • ‘Panchamrita’ is a traditional method of mixing five natural foods — milk, ghee, curd, honey, and jaggery.
    • These are used in Hindu and Jain worship rituals. It is also used as a technique in Ayurveda.
    • The PM euphemistically termed his scheme as ‘Panchamrita’ meaning the ‘five ambrosia’.
    • Under Panchamrita’, India will:
    1. Get its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030
    2. Meet 50 percent of its energy requirements till 2030 with renewable energy
    3. Reduce its projected carbon emission by one billion tonnes by 2030
    4. Reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by 45 percent by 2030
    5. Achieve net-zero by 2070

     

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  • No El Nino expected this year

    The southwest monsoon is likely to be “normal” in 2022, though rainfall in August, the second rainiest month, will likely be subdued, according to the private weather company Skymet.

    El Nino and La Nina

    • While El Niño (Spanish for ‘little boy’), the more common expression, is the abnormal surface warming observed along the eastern and central regions of the Pacific Ocean (the region between Peru and Papua New Guinea).
    • The La Niña (Spanish for ‘little girl’) is an abnormal cooling of these surface waters.
    • Together, the El Niño (Warm Phase) and La Niña (Cool Phase) phenomena are termed as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
    • These are large-scale ocean phenomena which influence the global weather — winds, temperature and rainfall. They have the ability to trigger extreme weather events like droughts, floods, hot and cold conditions, globally.
    • Each cycle can last anywhere between 9 to 12 months, at times extendable to 18 months — and re-occur after every three to five years.
    • Meteorologists record the sea surface temperatures for four different regions, known as Niño regions, along this equatorial belt.
    • Depending on the temperatures, they forecast either as an El Niño, an ENSO neutral phase, or a La Niña.

    Impact on India

    • El Nino during winter causes warm conditions over the Indian subcontinent and during summer, it leads to dry conditions and deficient monsoon.
    • Whereas La Nina results in better than normal monsoon in India.
    • It has been established that Indian summer monsoon is a fully coupled land-atmosphere-ocean system and that it is linked to ocean temperature variability.
    • In an agricultural country like India, the extreme departure from normal seasonal rainfall seriously affects the agricultural output and thus the economy of the country.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. La Nina is suspected to have caused recent floods in Australia. How is La Nina different from El Nino?

    1. La Nina is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperature in equatorial Indian Ocean whereas El Nino is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperature in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
    2. El Nino has an adverse effect on south-west monsoon of India, but La Nina has no effect on monsoon climate.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) Only 1

    (b) Only 2

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”s79h0abm7h” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

     

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  • The phenomenon of Coral Bleaching

    The management authority of the world’s largest coral reef system, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, confirmed on March 25 that the reef is experiencing a mass coral bleaching event.

    What are Coral Reefs?

    • Corals are marine invertebrates or animals not possessing a spine.
    • Each coral is called a polyp and thousands of such polyps live together to form a colony, which grows when polyps multiply to make copies of themselves.
    • Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system stretching across 2,300 km.
    • It hosts 400 different types of coral, gives shelter to 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc.
    • Corals are of two types — hard coral and soft coral:
    1. Hard corals, also called hermatypic or ‘reef building’ corals extract calcium carbonate (also found in limestone) from the seawater to build hard, white coral exoskeletons.
    2. Soft coral polyps, however, borrow their appearance from plants, attach themselves to such skeletons and older skeletons built by their ancestors. Soft corals also add their own skeletons to the hard structure over the years and these growing multiplying structures gradually form coral reefs. They are the largest living structures on the planet.

    How do the feed themselves?

    • Corals share a symbiotic relationship with single-celled algae called zooxanthellae.
    • The algae provides the coral with food and nutrients, which they make through photosynthesis, using the sun’s light.
    • In turn, the corals give the algae a home and key nutrients.
    • The zooxanthellae also give corals their bright colour.

    What is Coral Bleaching?

    • Bleaching happens when corals experience stress in their environment due to changes in temperature, pollution or high levels of ocean acidity.
    • Under stressed conditions, the zooxanthellae or food-producing algae living inside coral polyps start producing reactive oxygen species, which are not beneficial to the corals.
    • So, the corals expel the colour-giving zooxanthellae from their polyps, which exposes their pale white exoskeleton, giving the corals a bleached appearance.
    • This also ends the symbiotic relationship that helps the corals to survive and grow.
    • Severe bleaching and prolonged heat stress in the external environment can lead to coral death.

    Impact of climate change

    • Over the last couple of decades, climate change and increased global warming owing to rising carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases have made seas warmer than usual.
    • Under all positive outlooks and projections in terms of cutting greenhouse gases, sea temperatures are predicted to increase by 1.5°C to 2°C by the time the century nears its end.
    • The first mass bleaching event had occurred in 1998 when the El Niño weather pattern caused sea surfaces in the pacific ocean to heat up; this event caused 8% of the world’s coral to die.
    • The second event took place in 2002.
    • In the past decade, however, mass bleaching occurrences have become more closely spaced in time, with the longest and most damaging bleaching event taking place from 2014 to 2017.

    Significance of Corals

    • Coral reefs support over 25% of marine biodiversity, including fish, turtles and lobsters; even as they only take up 1% of the seafloor.
    • The marine life supported by reefs further fuels global fishing industries. Even giant clams and whales depend on the reefs to live.
    • Besides, coral reef systems generate $2.7 trillion in annual economic value through goods and service trade and tourism.
    • In Australia, the Barrier Reef, in pre-COVID times, generated $4.6 billion annually through tourism and employed over 60,000 people including divers and guides.
    • Aside from adding economic value and being a support system for aquatic life, coral reefs also provide protection from storm waves.
    • Dead reefs can revive over time if there are enough fish species that can graze off the weeds that settle on dead corals, but it takes almost a decade for the reef to start setting up again.

    Current condition of the Great Barrier Reef

    • The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its report this month, which warned that the life of the Great Barrier is in grave danger.
    • The report said that if temperatures continue to rise, bleaching events may occur more often and a large proportion of the remaining reef cover in Australia could be lost.
    • Just a couple of weeks after this warning, the Barrier Reef Authority confirmed a mass bleaching phenomenon affecting all pockets of the reef system.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. Consider the following statements:

    1. Most of the world’s coral reefs are in tropical waters.
    2. More than one third of the world’s coral reefs are located in the territories of Australia, Indonesia and Philippines.
    3. Coral reefs host far more number of animal phyla than those hosted by tropical rainforests.

    Which of the above statements is/are correct?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 3 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1 and 3 only

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”olp1whi3zk” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

     

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  • What is a Heatwave?

    The Konkan region, including Mumbai, has been experiencing sweltering heat in recent days, with the maximum temperatures touching the 40 degrees mark.

    What is a Heatwave and when is it declared?

    • Heatwaves occur over India between March and June.
    • IMD declares a heatwave event when the maximum (day) temperature for a location in the plains crosses 40 degrees Celsius.
    • Over the hills, the threshold temperature is 30 degrees Celsius.

    Following criteria are used to declare heatwave:

    To declare heatwave, the below criteria should be met at least in 2 stations in a Meteorological subdivision for at least two consecutive days and it will be declared on the second day.

    a) Based on Departure from Normal

    • Heat Wave: Departure from normal is 4.5°C to 6.4°C
    • Severe Heat Wave: Departure from normal is >6.4°C

    b) Based on Actual Maximum Temperature (for plains only)

    • Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥ 45°C
    • Severe Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥47°C

    How long can a heatwave spell last?

    • A heatwave spell generally lasts for a minimum of four days. On some occasions, it can extend up to seven or ten days.
    • The longest recorded heatwave spell, in recent years, was between 18 – 31 May 2015.

     

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  • Mumbai Climate Action Plan

    The Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP) has laid down a 30-year road map for the city to tackle the challenges of climate change by adopting inclusive and robust mitigation and adaptation strategies.

    What is MCAP ?

    • The MCAP has set short-, medium- and long-term climate goals aimed towards zero emission of greenhouse gas or a net-zero target for 2050.
    • It focuses on priority across six strategic areas:
    1. Sustainable waste management
    2. Urban greening and biodiversity
    3. Urban flooding and water resource management,
    4. Energy and buildings
    5. Air quality and
    6. Sustainable mobility

    Features of the plan

    • The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) prepared the plan with technical support from the World Resources Institute (WRI), India and the C40 Cities network.
    • It concentrates on the city, its ecological, cultural and economical landscapes.
    • The plan throws light on the current climate of the city called Baseline Assessment—climate and air pollution risks, greenhouse gas inventory.
    • The plan then assesses future trajectories in the business-as-usual scenarios and assesses future emission reduction scenarios to make Mumbai net-zero by 2050.

    Why does Mumbai need a climate action plan?

    • As per a study conducted by WRI India on Mumbai’s vulnerability assessment, the city will face two major challenges—temperature rise, and extreme rain events which lead to flooding.
    • The city is already witnessing a warming trend.
    • The analysis has revealed a warming trend over 47 years (1973-2020) with an increase of 0.25°C per decade for the city.

    What is the current greenhouse gas emission?

    • In 2019, which is taken as a base year, Mumbai’s GHG emissions were 23.42 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emission, which is 1.8 tonnes CO2e per person.
    • Out of which, 16.9 million tonnes or 72 per cent is from the energy sector, followed by 4.56 million tonnes of CO2 e or 20 per cent from the transportation sector.
    • The city’s waste sector contributes to a total of eight per cent of the total emissions.
    • Most of the city’s emissions come from energy use in residential buildings followed by commercial buildings and transport.
    • Electricity consumption contributes significantly to total emissions (64.3%), due to the city’s predominantly coal-based grid.

     

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  • IPCC releases part of the Sixth Assessment Report

    What is the issue:

    The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the second part of its sixth assessment report. The first part was released in 2021.

    What is IPCC?

    • The IPCC, an intergovernmental body was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
    • It was later endorsed by the UN General Assembly. Membership is open to all members of the WMO and UN.
    • The IPCC produces reports that contribute to the work of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the main international treaty on climate change.
    • The objective of the UNFCCC is to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) interference with the climate system.”

    What are the Assessment Reports?

    • Every few years, the IPCC produces assessment reports that are the most comprehensive scientific evaluations of the state of earth’s climate.
    • Instead, it asks scientists from around the world to go through all the relevant scientific literature related to climate change and draw up the logical conclusions.
    • So far, five assessment reports have been produced, the first one being released in 1990.
    • The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report was a critical scientific input into the UNFCCC’s Paris Agreement in 2015.

    Highlights of the recent report

    • Rapidly advancing climate change: From the melting of the Greenland ice sheet to the destruction of coral reefs, climate related impacts are hitting the world at the high end much more quickly than previously assessed by the IPCC.
    • Limitations of technology: The use of some technologies designed to limit warming or reduce CO2 could make matters worse rather than better.
    • Impact of urbanization: While large cities are hotspots for climate impacts, they also offer a real opportunity to avoid the worst impacts of warming.
    • Limited opportunity for mitigation: The report has warned the opportunity for action will only last for the rest of this decade.

    Some projections of the first part of 6th Report

    • Regional focus: It is expected that this report would likely state what the scenarios for sea-level rise in the Bay of Bengal region is, not just what the average sea-level rise across the world is likely to be.
    • Rise of extreme events: There is expected to be bigger focus on extreme weather events, like the ones we have seen in the last few weeks.
    • Vulnerabilities of urban areas: Densely populated mega-cities are supposed to be among the most vulnerable to impacts of climate change. The report is expected to present specific scenarios the climate change impacts on cities and large urban populations, and also implications for key infrastructure.
    • Synergy of climate action is needed: IPCC is expected to present a more integrated understanding of the situation, cross-link evidence and discuss trade-offs between different options or pathways, and also likely to cover social implications of climate change action by countries.

    Here is what the previous assessment reports had said:

  • What are CRZ norms?

    The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) inspected a bungalow owned by a Union Minister for alleged violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.

    What is the news?

    • The Union Minister’s bungalow named has been illicitly constructed within 50 metres of the sea in violation of the CRZ rules.
    • The crackdown assumes significance in the escalating verbal spats between the two political rivals (which were allies for years).

    What are CRZ norms?

    • In India, the CRZ Rules govern human and industrial activity close to the coastline, in order to protect the fragile ecosystems near the sea.
    • They restrict certain kinds of activities — like large constructions, setting up of new industries, storage or disposal of hazardous material, mining, reclamation and bunding — within a certain distance from the coastline.
    • After the passing of the Environment Protection Act in 1986, CRZ Rules were first framed in 1991.
    • After these were found to be restrictive, the Centre notified new Rules in 2011, which also included exemptions for the construction of the Navi Mumbai airport and for projects of the Department of Atomic Energy.
    • While the CRZ Rules are made by the Union environment ministry, implementation is to be ensured by state governments through their Coastal Zone Management Authorities.

    Where do they apply?

    • In all Rules, the regulation zone has been defined as the area up to 500 m from the high-tide line.
    • The restrictions depend on criteria such as the population of the area, the ecological sensitivity, the distance from the shore, and whether the area had been designated as a natural park or wildlife zone.
    • The latest Rules have a no-development zone of 20 m for all islands close to the mainland coast, and for all backwater islands in the mainland.

    New Rules under CRZ regulations

    • The government notified new CRZ Rules with the stated objectives of promoting sustainable development and conserving coastal environments.
    • For the so-called CRZ-III (Rural) areas, two separate categories have been stipulated.
    • In the densely populated rural areas (CRZ-IIIA) with a population density of 2,161 per sq km as per the 2011 Census, the no-development zone is now 50 m from the high-tide level, as against the 200 m stipulated earlier.
    • In the CRZ-IIIB category (rural areas with population density below 2,161 per sq km) continue to have a no-development zone extending up to 200 m from the high-tide line.
    • The new Rules have a no-development zone of 20 m for all islands close to the mainland coast, and for all backwater islands in the mainland.

     

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  • What is Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI)?

    Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has carried out coastal vulnerability assessment for entire Indian coast at states level.

    Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI)

    • Under the CVI, INCOIS has brought out an Atlas comprising 156 maps on 1:1,00,000 scales to prepare a CVI.
    • These maps determine the coastal risks due to future sea-level rise based on the physical and geological parameters for the Indian coast.
    • The CVI uses the relative risk that physical changes will occur as sea-level rises are quantified based on parameters like:
    1. Tidal range
    2. Wave height
    3. Coastal slope
    4. Coastal elevation
    5. Shoreline change rate
    6. Geomorphology
    7. Historical rate of relative sea-level change

    Other components: MHVM

    • A coastal Multi-Hazard Vulnerability Mapping (MHVM) was also carried out using above mentioned parameters.
    • These parameters were synthesized to derive the composite hazard zones that can be inundated along the coastal low-lying areas due to extreme flooding events.
    • This MHVM mapping was carried for the entire mainland of India on a 1:25000 scale.
    • These maps depict the coastal low-lying areas exposed to the coastal inundation.

    Significance of CVI

    • India has a coastline of 7516.6 Km i.e. 6100 km of mainland coastline plus coastline of 1197 Indian islands touching 13 States and Union Territories (UTs).
    • Coastal vulnerability assessments can be useful information for coastal disaster management and building resilient coastal communities.

    What is Coastal Security?

    • Coastal Security is understood as a subset of maritime security. It
      involves the security of the coastal water zone against any threat or challenge that originates from the sea. Coastal water zone refers to the water area seawards of the Indian coast up to the limit of India’s contiguous zone, or the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) whichever is less.
    • Coastal security has a wide connotation encompassing maritime border management, island security, maintenance of peace, stability and good order in coastal areas and enforcement of laws therein, security of ports, coastal installations, and other structures
      including Vital Areas and Vital Points (VAs/VPs) and vessels and personnel operating in coastal areas. An effective
      organization for coastal security also facilitates coastal defense.

    Why is coastal security considered indispensable for India?

    • National Security: The elaborate security arrangements on land forced the terrorists and illegal migrants to look towards the sea where security measures are comparatively lax, enabling them to ‘move, hide and strike’ with relative ease. Plugging this loophole is imperative to enable a holistic national security architecture.
    • Economic development: Coastal region plays an important part in India’s economic development. Security of the region will have a direct bearing on the following areas:
      a) Trade: India’s sea dependence on oil is about 93% which includes India’s offshore oil production and petroleum exports. Further, 95% of India’s trade by volume and 68% of trade by value comes via the Indian Ocean.
      b) Fish production: India is the second-largest fish producer in the world with a total production of 13.7 million metric tonnes in 2018-19 of which 35% was from the maritime sector. In the same period, India had exported Rs 46,589.37 crore worth of marine products.
      c) Strategic minerals: India hosts some of the largest and richest shoreline placers. The beach and dune sands in India contain heavy minerals (HMs) like ilmenite, rutile, garnet, zircon, monazite and sillimanite.
      d) Geostrategic interests: The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has become a pivotal zone of global strategic competition.
      e) Dealing with climate-induced crises: Coastal zones are already under threat from environmental degradation. At the same time, the sinking of islands due to the rising sea levels in the Indian Ocean may result in the rise of climate refugees.

    How India’s Coastal Security Architecture has evolved over the years?

    • Customs Marine Organisation (CMO), 1974: Created on the recommendation of Nag Chaudhari Committee, it was mandated to conduct anti-smuggling operations. However, since the CMO was temporary in nature, not much attention was paid to strengthening this organisation. In 1982, it was merged with the ICG to avoid the duplication of efforts.
    • Indian Coast Guard (ICG), 1977: With the enactment of the Indian Coast Guard Act, 1978, the organization formally
      came into being as the fourth armed force of India. Its mandates include thwarting smuggling activities, safeguarding and protecting artificial islands, offshore terminals, installations, and other devices in the maritime zone, protecting and assisting fishermen in distress and preserving and protecting the marine environment, including
      controlling marine pollution.
    • Coastal Security Scheme (CSS), 2005: Instituted originally in 2005 and implemented by the Department of Border
      Management, Ministry of Home Affairs. The aim of the CSS was to strengthen infrastructure for patrolling and the surveillance of the coastal areas, particularly the shallow areas close to the coast.
    • Coastal Security Architecture Post ‘26/11’: Since then, the physical assets were built up and human resource capability was
      also enhanced to strengthen the coastal security. These
      efforts include:
      Strengthening the Multilayered Surveillance System: Before 2008, the existing multilayered surveillance system under the CSS was functioning only along the Gujarat and Maharashtra coasts.
      Indian Navy(IN): It was designated as the authority responsible for overall maritime security which includes coastal as well as offshore security. It was also made responsible for the coastal defense of the nation assisted by the ICG, the marine police, and
      other central and state agencies.
      ICG: The Director-General Coast Guard has been designated as the Commander Coastal Command, and is responsible for the overall coordination between central and state agencies in all matters relating to coastal security.
      Border Security Force (BSF): The water wing of the BSF have been deployed along with eight floating border outposts (BOPs), for the security and surveillance of the creeks in Gujarat and the Sunderbans.
      Central Industrial Security Force (CISF): It was entrusted with the responsibility of the physical security of India’s major ports. Vessel Traffic Management Systems (VTMS) are also being installed in all the major and a few non-major ports to monitor and regulate maritime traffic as well as to detect potentially dangerous ships.
      Sagar Suraksha Dal: An informal layer of surveillance, comprising the fishermen community- created following the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts – has also been formalized and activated in all coastal states.
    • National Maritime Domain Awareness (NMDA) Project: It includes an integrated intelligence grid to detect and tackle threats emanating from the sea in real-time. Post 26/11, it has been strengthened by establishing NC3I network and IMAC that generate a common operational picture of activities at sea
      through an institutionalized mechanism.
    • Maritime Theatre Command (MTC): MTC structure is
      proposed to integrate the assets of the Indian Navy, Army, IAF
      and Coast Guard to achieve the goals detailed out in the Joint
      Forces Doctrine (JFD), 2017. It will enable the security forces
      to form a ‘Net-centric’ Warfare model so as to gain an
      an advantage over the adversary using a flexible force structure
      to match the varied geographic domains.
    • Inter-agency maritime exercises: Such exercises help
      build inter-service synergy, interoperability, and
      jointness. These include ‘Sagar Kavach’, ‘Sea Vigil’, TROPEX.
    • Increased cooperation with littoral countries: India
      interacts more actively with littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region and employs maritime security engagement as a cornerstone of her regional foreign policy initiatives.

    Gaps in existing architecture

    • Lackadaisical approach of the State governments resulting in the slow pace of construction of coastal infrastructure.
    • Multiplicity of agencies results in poor coordination.
    • Disproportionate focus on terrorism results in less emphasis on non-traditional threats.
    • Lack of professionalism and capacity constraints in marine police forces.
    • Technological backwardnessPort security remains neglected in most of the minor ports.

    Ways to fill gaps in the existing architecture

    • Enacting the proposed Coastal Security Bill that will facilitate the creation of NMA.
    • Strengthening the surveillance system
    • Creation of Central Marine Police Force (CMPF)
    • Promulgate the National commercial maritime security policy document for efficient, coordinated, and effective actions.
    • Effective involvement of Coastal communities such as fishermen.
    • Reinforcing Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) regulations
      Recalibrate the defense expenditure to increase capacity and resources.

     

    Back2Basics: INCOIS

    • Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) is an autonomous body under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
    • It has been issuing alerts on Potential Fishing Zone, Ocean State Forecast, Tsunami Early Warning, Storm Surge Early Warning, High Wave Alerts, etc.
    • It works through a dedicated ocean modeling, observations, computation facilities and the marine data center.

     

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  • Nusantara City: New Capital of Indonesia

    Indonesia passed a bill replacing its capital Jakarta with East Kalimantan, situated to the east of Borneo island. The new capital city of the country will be called Nusantara.

    About Nusantara

    • The New State Capital Law Bill has been drafted by a special committee set up by Widodo’s government and makes Nusantara, also called IKN, the capital of the Republic of Indonesia.
    • The transfer of the status of Jakarta as Indonesia’s capital to Nusantara, where 256,142 hectares of land has been set aside for the project, will take place in the “first semester” of 2024.
    • East Kalimantan, where the new capital will be, as per the bill is said to have a world-city vision.
    • It will be designed and managed with the objective of becoming a sustainable city in the world.

    Why is Indonesia changing its capital city?

    • The new location is very strategic – it’s in the centre of Indonesia and close to urban areas.
    • The burden Jakarta is holding right now is too heavy as the centre of governance, business, finance, trade and services.
    • Jakarta is also infamous for being the worlds’ first sinking capital city due to rising sea levels.
    • The city’s pollution levels are so bad that it has been ranking as one of the most polluted cities in the world for years.
    • Another important reason to shift the capital from Java island to Borneo island has been the growing inequality – financial and otherwise.

    Where is East Kalimantan?

    • East Kalimantan is 2,300 kilometres from Jakarta on the eastern side of Borneo island, shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
    • The new capital will be located in the North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara regions.
    • East Kalimantan is an area with immense water resources and habitable terrain.
    • East Kalimantan is rich in flora and fauna.

    Why Nusantara?

    • Nusantara is an old Javanese term that means ‘archipelago’.
    • Nusantara has historical, sociological, and philosophical aspects attached to the name.
    • The name would represent Indonesia as a whole and would show the potential of the nation.

    What are the other countries that have changed capitals?

    • Indonesia is not the first country to change its capital city.
    • There has been a long list of countries that have changed their capitals for various reasons. Brazil changed its capital city from Rio De Janerio to Brasilia, a more centrally-located city, in 1960.
    • In 1991, Nigeria hanged the country’s capital from Lagos to Abuja.
    • Kazakhstan moved its capital city from Almaty, which is still its commercial centre, to Nur-Sultan in 1997.
    • Myanmar changed its capital from Rangoon to Naypyidaw in 2005.

     

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