The phenomena of global warming expected to take place due to increase in the emission of greenhouse gases is the subject of research by the scientists and a matter of concern for the general public. Global warming is expected to cause variations in the mean sea levels all over the world. In India, nearly 25% of the population live in the coastal areas, and hence, it is essential to take up a study and develop data on the variations in the mean sea level, probable extent of inundation of coastal areas and its effect on the socio-economic conditions of the coastal population. As complementary to this, it is also necessary to have finer scale coastal maps for realistic estimate of the extent of inundation of the coastal areas.

Under the SELMAM programme the Department has programmes to install modern tide gauges at selected locations along the Indian Coast including islands. The chosen locations are Porbandar, Bombay, Goa, Cochin, Tuticorin, Madras, Machilipatnam, Visakhapatnam, Paradeep, Calcutta and Kavaratti (Lakshadweep Island). The tide gauges would be interconnected through NICNET to the National Tidal Data Centre set up at Survey of India, Dehradun, Modern tide gauges at Bombay and Goa are already functioning. The installation and commissioning of tide guges at other locations and their networking will be completed before the end of Eighth Plan.

The Department has also taken up preparation of detailed coastal Maps through Survey of India showing contours at 1/2 a metre interval in the scale of 1:25000. As the coast of preparation of detailed coastal map is high, the work is proposed to be taken up by the Department in phases. During first phase, the coastal stretch from Nellore to Machilipatnam, most vulnerable in terms of storm surges, is taken up. The coastal stretch from Machilipatnam to Indo-Bangla border is proposed to be taken up in the second phase. It will for the first time in the country that such a detailed coastal maps are being prepared. Apart from their use for sea level rise and storm surge events, these maps would also be useful for conservation, preservationand development of coastal zone.

The Institutes/Organisations participating in the programme are National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, Survey of India, Dehradun, Western Regional Instrumentation Centre, Bombay, Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation, Bangalore.