Oceans and Coasts

The Palk Bay is an ecological paradise located between the island nation of Sri Lanka and the South East Peninsula India. The region separates the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu from the northern parts of Sri Lanka.

The Palk Bay is a 15,000 sq km biodiversity conglomeration nestled between the island nation of Sri Lanka and South East Peninsula India with a coastal length of 250 km on the Indian side. 

The theme for the Conclave this year is “Water Use Efficiency: An Imperative for India” to highlight the imperative of water use efficiency in the industry, agriculture and urban contexts. 

Disaster management authorities are all set to get a new tool to handle tsunamis. They will be able to know how far the waves will move into the land at different places along the Indian coast.

In India, fresh water is depleting fast with the rise in consumption for economic activities. Poor management of water resources has led to overexploitation of groundwater. The World Resources Institute’s March 2016 report said 54 percent of India was water stressed, with scarcity affecting every part of the country except the Himalayan region and the ghats.

"The world has enough for everyone's needs, but not enough for everyone's greed”--Mahatma Gandhi 

We often notice dew drops on leaves, grass and some sloping surfaces in the morning hours. These dew drops can actually be a source of drinking water. 

In our effort to make space for infrastructural developments, India's green cover is declining at an alarming rate. The overall mangrove cover in the country stands at 4,740 sq. km., which is 0.14 sq. km of India’s overall geographical area. 

Fishing trawlers symbolise industrial-scale fishing which is lucrative in the present day market. These machines that catch fish in huge numbers are said to be a boon to the sector’s economy but a closer look at the figures show that these modes of mass fishing may not be as efficient as they may seem to appear.

Sinking islands may become a reality with sea-level rise and climate change in decades to come. Tamil Nadu has hit upon a novel idea to protect such islands on its coast--deployment of artificial reefs near vulnerable islands.