LONGER COAST, DEEPER CRISIS

India's coastline revision should blend science, local wisdom, and resilient infrastructure, ensuring community needs are central to effective solutions. If we delay, rising seas may irreversibly reshape our future

- Ansuman Das & Pranaya Kumar Swain

India's coastline, long measured at 7,516.6 km, has now been officially revised to 11,098.81 km. This substantial increase is not justa technical adjustment in national cartography; it is a clear signal of the changing relationship between land and sea, shaped by accelerating climate change and improved geospatial assessments, The consequences of this redefinition are far-reaching: more people, infrastructure, and ecosystems are now recognised as being at risk from rising seas, coastal erosion, saline intrusion, and intensifying cyclonic storms. This revision stems from high-resolution satellite mapping conducted by the National Hydrographic Office (NHO), using a 1:250,000 scale, a stark improvement over the older charts from the 1970s, which failed to capture intricate features such as estuaries, tidal creeks, offshore islands, and backwaters. What emerges is not merely a clearer picture of India's geography but a reality that our shores are in flux.