The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhubaneswar has signed a MoU with the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MES) for establishment of Bay of Bengal Coastal Ocean observatory in the State.
The MoU was signed by IIT Bhubaneswar Director Prof RV Raja Kumar and Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary Dr Shailesh Naik on Tuesday in New Delhi.
The Ministry has approved a grant of Rs 9.23 crore for development of the observatory. The State Government had earlier agreed to provide land close to Puri for the establishment of the same.
The MoU is a significant step towards building an important facility for research in understanding air-sea-land interactions, prediction of extreme events, marine seismology and sea-level rise due to climate change and ocean acidification etc. The observatory can be used to monitor ocean, earth and climatic parameters and systems and it is the first of its kind in the country in general and the east coast of Bay of Bengal in particular.
International organisations, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, USA and the National Oceanographic Centre of University of Southampton would be the partner in the venture.