National Duty

Several important national requirements were successfully met with during my tenure as the Secretary to Government of India, Department of Ocean Development, that commenced in February 2002. A few of these and other national duties are reported hare. I took initiative to collect and analyze all the necessary ocean data to put forward India’s claim for Extended Continental Shelf which would add 0.6 million square km to the existing Exclusive Economic Zone of India of about 2.37 million square km. Globally, the first low temperature thermal desalination (LTTD) plant of one hundred thousand liters per day capacity was set up at Kavaratti in Lakshadweep Island in 2005. It has worked uninterrupted till now, providing potable water to some ten thousand population of Kavaratti. As a byproduct, cases reported in the hospitals have dropped by almost 50% because of reduction due to water borne diseases. One of the major achievements has been setting up of the Indian Tsunami Early Warning System (ITEWS) for the Indian Ocean after the 26 December 2004 disastrous Sumatra Mw 9.2 earthquake and the resultant tsunami that claimed some quarter million human lives in south and southeast Asia. The ITEWS has performed exceptionally well since its commissioning in 2007 and is now considered to be among the best in the world. Efforts to take science to rural and semi-rural areas was achieved when Science Congress was held at Annamalai University in Chidambaram under my President ship in January 2007 with ‘Planet Earth’ as the theme. The presence of President and Prime Minister of India, Nobel Laureates, scientists and students from India and abroad inspired several young minds and helped in developing scientific temper in the country.