GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
RAJYA SABHA
QUESTION NO 338
ANSWERED ON 26.02.2015
Increase of water level due to global warming
338
Shri K.N. Balagopal
Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to satate :(a) whether Government has noticed about the alarming increase of water level in low lying islands like
Sundar Ban (West Bengal), Mantro island (Kerala) etc. due to global warming and if so, the details
thereof; and
(b) the steps taken to address the problems of the people living there?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)
(a) As per a study of the tidal gauge records of the northern Indian Ocean conducted by the National
Institute of Oceanography, it is observed that the sea-level rose by 1.06-1.75 millimetres per year during
the past century. Further, as per the India’s Second National Communication submitted to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) submitted in 2012, sea level is projected
to further rise in the current century, which would result in saline coastal groundwater, endangering
wetlands and inundating valuable land and coastal communities. The most vulnerable stretches along
the western Indian coast are Khambat and Kutch in Gujarat, Mumbai, and parts of the Konkan coast and
south Kerala. The deltas of the Ganga, Krishna, Godavari, Cauvery, and Mahanadi on the East Coast may
be threatened, along with irrigated land and a number of urban and other settlements that are situated
in them.
(b)Government is implementing the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) which includes
National Missions in several areas including water, and habitat. The National Water Mission aims at
conserving water, minimizing wastage and ensuring its more equitable distribution. The National
Mission on Sustainable Habitat includes, inter alia, activities for managing coastal zone. NAPCC also
includes initiatives for Disaster Management Response to Extreme Climate Events and Protection of
Coastal Areas.
The Coastal Regulation Zone Notification and Island Protection Zone Notification were issued in 2011
with an aim of protecting livelihoods of fisher folk communities, preservation of ecology and promotion
of economic activity in coastal areas. Government of India has initiated, with the assistance of the World
Bank, a project on ‘Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan’ for mapping of a hazard line along the
coastal areas of the country taking into account the sea level rise due to climate change and other
parameters such as, shoreline change, tides and wave.
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