Deltas sinking, shrinking as dams curb steady flow of fresh water to the coast

Chennai:

The deltas across the country are sinking and shrinking as dams and
reservoirs has stopped the flow of fresh water to the sea besides the
riuse in sea level, according to R Ramesh, director of National Centre
for Sustainable Coastal Management.

Ramesh told Express on the sidelines of Multi Stakeholders
Consultative Meeting on Coastal and Marine Zone Management at the M S
Swaminathan Research Foundation that the dams and reservoirs have
reduced the water flow to the coast and this is a global phenomenon.

He said that the major reason behind sinking and shrinking of deltas
is sediment trapping by the dams built on the upstream rivers, which
has resulted in oceans eroding and eating away deltas.

He said his Centre is also identifying the hotspots along the
coastline that are vulnerable to pollution. He said National Centre
for Sustainable Coastal Management has launched a study on the Indian
coast and has completed nearly 50 per cent of it.

“We have completed the stretch between Kerala to Tamil Nadu and Kerala
to Gujarat. Now we have to study the stretch between Goa to Gujarat
and also between Tamil Nadu to West Bengal,” said Ramesh.

He said the study would identify eutrphication of estuaries as well as
dangerous algae blooms besides various other factors. “We have hired
the ship from National Institute of Ocean Technology and are
conducting the study. The hotspots will be identified once the data
will be collated,” he added.

He also said a national guideline for the development and
implementation of Indian Coastal Zone Management plans in India has
been developed. Currently, it is being implemented in Gujarat (Gulf of
Kachchh), West Bengal (Digha to Sankarpur and Sagar Island) and Odisha
(Gopalpur to Chilika and Paradeep to Dhamra). This will soon be
implemented in other states also, he added. He said the ICZM
guidelines would only be implemented in the vulnerable areas.