An expert panel set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to frame policies and measures to protect submerging islands due to the rise of sea level and global warming has recommended island-specific sustainable development and tourism policy keeping the climate risks in mind.
The panel was constituted by the Principal Bench of the tribunal after it took suo motu cognizance of The Hindu report titled India’s sinking islands published on March 19, 2023. The report had stated that several of the country’s 1,382 islands are under siege from unseasonal cyclonic storms, sea erosion and new development projects.
The panel consisted of experts representing the CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (NIO); National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Chennai; National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai; National Institute for Geo-informatics Science &Technology; Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, Hyderabad; and IIT, Kharagpur.
