INCOIS to set up ‘shore stations’ for better ocean monitoring

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) is planning to establish ‘shore stations’ along the coastline to enhance ocean observations and enable rapid response to emerging situations, said director T.M. Balakrishnan Nair.

“We need to stay in constant touch with the sea. While our core research activities will continue at the operational headquarters in Hyderabad, we are planning to set up satellite centres on both the east and west coasts,” he said.

The first such shore station — for the institute operating under the aegis of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) — is expected to be established in the Andaman Islands. “We have requested for up to five acres from the local government. Once approvals are in place, we will construct the station and deploy a team of research personnel,” Mr.Nair said.

INCOIS is also getting ready to set up an under-sea cable observatory on the Andaman seabed.

He noted that advanced nations like the United States have decentralised ocean observation systems with local processing centres. This approach enables better monitoring of the socio-economic vulnerabilities associated with oceanic events, especially as climate change increasingly impacts coastal communities.

INCOIS already operates several observational posts equipped with buoys and tide gauges, which transmit real-time data via satellite. However, Mr.Nair emphasized that shore stations would significantly improve response times for incidents such as oil spills, where satellite data alone may not suffice.

“We are also exploring the use of drones for quicker assessments along the coast,” he said. Plans are also under way to establish similar shore stations along the Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh coastlines.

“We are particularly interested in setting up a station near the Krishna-Godavari basin on the east coast. We will approach the Andhra Pradesh government for suitable land, as our observations will greatly benefit the State,” he asserted.

On the ‘Tsunami Ready Programme’, he shared that eight villages in Kerala will soon join the 26 villages in Odisha that are already fully prepared to handle tsunami threats. “We also plan to include coastal villages in Gujarat and Maharashtra, which are currently not covered, despite their vulnerability,” added the INCOIS director.