While over 25% of Odisha’s coastline is facing erosion, at least 51% is under accretion in the State.
 
According to the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), an attached office of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, Odisha has 549.5 km coastline out of which 140.72 km is vulnerable to erosion.
 
The NCCR has been monitoring the shoreline changes for the entire Indian coastline using multi-spectral satellite images along with field surveyed data for the period of 28 years (1990-2018).
 
West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat and Daman and Diu, apart from Odisha have coasts.
 
So far as Odisha is concerned, 280.02 km is under accretion (growing), that is 51 per cent. However, 128.77 km is stable, which is 23.4 percent of the coastline.
 
The NCCR study reveals that 33.6 percent of the Indian coastline was vulnerable to erosion, 26.9 per cent was under accretion (growing) and 39.6 per cent was in stable state.
 
Union Minister of State Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) CM Ramesh said in Rajya Sabha that the Union Government is committed to taking proactive steps in combating sea erosion and protecting India’s coastal areas and the coastal communities. The MoEFCC has delineated the hazard line for the entire coast of the country.
 
The hazard line is indicative of the shoreline changes, including sea level rise due to climate change. This line is to be used by agencies in coastal States as a tool for disaster management including planning of adaptive and mitigation measures.
 
The hazard line features in the new Coastal Zone Management Plans of the coastal States and Union Territories have been approved by the MoEFCC.
 
The MoEFCC also has notified Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2019 with a view to conserve and protect coastal stretches, marine areas to ensure livelihood security to the fisher and other local communities.
 
The coastal regulations, however, permit setting up of erosion control measures in the coast. The notification also provides for No Development Zones (NDZ) along various categories of coastal areas to protect India’s coastline from encroachment and erosion.
 
The MoEFCC has framed a national strategy for coastal protection along with guidelines for all Coastal States and Union Territories. Considering the importance of collection of data on coastal processes towards coastal protection measures, a new component ‘Coastal Management Information System (CMIS)’ was initiated under the Central sector plan scheme ‘Development of Water Resources Information System.’