Recently, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) prepared a Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) for the entire Indian coast. It determines the coastal risks due to future sea-level rise based on the physical and geological parameters for the Indian coasts. The CVI uses parameters like tidal range, wave height, coastal slope, coastal elevation, shoreline change rate, geomorphology, and historical rate of relative sea-level change.

Significance of Coastal Vulnerability Index: It helps in coastal disaster management and building resilient coastal communities by addressing the following factors:

• Sustainable development: Indian coasts are under threat due to multiple stresses like global climate change and human intervention. It will help in planning and sustaining the high productivity of the coastal ecosystem.
• Climatic vulnerability: Sea level along the India coast has been continuously rising leading to loss of land to coastal erosion and placing people’s livelihood and homes in jeopardy.
• Long-term displacement: More than 26% of the Indian population live within 100 km from the shoreline. Sea level rise and flooding might lead to increased relocation in major coastal cities.
• Informed policy making: While most of the existing policies in India address displacement from rapid onset disasters such as monsoons and cyclones under disaster and rehabilitation policies, displacement due to slow onset disasters such as coastal erosions has yet to find a place at the policy level.

Initiatives taken to enhance the resilient against coastal vulnerability include:

• Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Project: Its nodal agency is the Society of Integrated Coastal Management.
  • At the national level, it has the objective of establishing and supporting an appropriate national institutional structure for guiding and coordinating coastal zone management.
  • At the state level, its objective is to develop and empower the state-level authorities to adopt appropriate ICZM approaches consistent with the national strategies.
• Enhancing Coastal and Ocean Resource Efficiency (ENCORE):
  • In 2020, the World Bank approved a 400 million dollars multi-year-financing to help India to enhance its coastal resources, protect coastal populations from pollution, erosion and sea level rise and improve livelihood opportunities for coastal communities.
  • The first phase of this multi-phase approach (MPA) will provide 180 million dollars for ENCORE.
  • In phase 1, ENCORE will cover eight coastal states (Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal) and three coastal UTs (Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Puducherry).

India’s coastal regions are on the front line of a shifting climate and are increasingly experiencing sea-level rise, erosion and natural disasters such as tropical storms and cyclones. In this context, the CVI will aid in improving the design and implementation of policies for making coastal regions resilient to any anthropogenic or natural vulnerability.

The National Institute of Wind Energy estimates a total wind energy potential of 302 Gigawatts (GW) at a hub height of 100 meters above ground, which more than doubles to over 695 GW at a hub height of 120 meters in India. In addition, India has a potential of 174 GW of offshore wind resources.

Even though there is a high potential for the wind industry in India, installations have slowed. For instance, the wind project activity in 2021 was lower than expected as only 1.45 GW of wind capacity was installed. Further, the total installed capacity in India is 39.25 GW, which is just a proportion of the above-mentioned wind energy potential.

The reasons behind the untapped wind energy potential in India include the following:

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: The slowdown in tapping the potential has been attributed to delays during the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain constraints.
• Concentration of resource potential: The concentration of resource potential centered around a few sub-stations in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu has sent land prices soaring manifold, making it the single biggest component of a wind energy project.
• Gap between wind and solar energy: The cost of solar-based power has continued to decline, creating a wider gap between electricity generated from wind and solar energy. This has resulted in delays in signing power supply agreements for already auctioned projects.
• Delays in land acquisition: Installation of onshore wind turbines requires large tracts of open land and has on occasion, been met with resistance from local communities.
• Financing offshore projects: According to the Standing Committee on Energy, it is estimated that the per megawatt cost of the offshore wind turbine would be two to three times the cost of onshore wind turbines. Thus, it will be difficult to finance offshore projects.

Steps to address the above-mentioned impediments include:

• Centre-state coordination: The Central and state governments must enhance consensus and co- ordination among various government agencies. It can lead to clarification about project targets and procurement schedules, balancing of grids as well as composition and conditions for new tenders.
• Technology: There should be development of a technology exchange programme and alignment of the Indian manufacturing base with the global wind supply chain to create export-oriented opportunities.
• Overcoming legacy issues: Legacy challenges that have impeded wind energy development, including DISCOM payments and risks, inadequate grid, and transmission infrastructure and changing state land policies hindering land acquisition should be addressed urgently.
• Offshore wind power: As part of the 37 GW offshore wind tender trajectory, plans need to be implemented to absorb capacities added by the government. Also, there should be development of offshore wind roadmaps that can take advantage of the massive potential in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

India is ramping up its efforts to decarbonize its economy with its commitment to turn Net Zero by 2070 and meet its updated nationally determined contributions (NDC) of getting 50 percent installed energy capacity from non-fossil fuels by 2030. To this end, investing in renewable sources of energy. particularly wind energy, is crucial.

Ozone (03) is a highly reactive gas composed of three oxygen atoms. It is both a natural and a man-made product that occurs in the Earth’s upper atmosphere (stratosphere) and lower atmosphere oxygen (troposphere). Depending on where it is in the atmosphere, ozone affects life on Earth in either good or bad ways. Formation of tropospheric and stratospheric ozone Tropospheric or ground-level ozone is formed primarily from photochemical reactions between two major classes of air pollutants, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). NOx and VOC break apart in the presence of intense sunlight and recombine into new structures, creating ozone. It is created by human activities as emissions from industrial facilities and electric utilities, motor vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapor, and chemical solvents are some of the major sources of NOx and VOC. On the other hand, stratospheric ozone is formed naturally through the interaction of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation with molecular oxygen (02). Solar ultraviolet radiation breaks apart one oxygen molecule (02) to produce two oxygen atoms (20) and each of these highly reactive atoms combines with an oxygen molecule to produce an ozone molecule (03). These reactions occur continually whenever solar ultraviolet radiation is present in the stratosphere. Role of tropospheric and stratospheric ozone The tropospheric ozone or bad ozone can trigger a variety of health problems including chest pain, coughing, and throat irritation. It is also a major component of urban smog, which can worsen bronchitis and emphysema, trigger asthma, and permanently damage lung tissue. Further, bad ozone also damages vegetation and ecosystems as it leads to reduced agricultural crop and commercial forest yields, reduced growth and survivability of tree seedlings, and increased susceptibility to diseases, pests, and other stresses such as harsh weather. Whereas, the stratospheric ozone absorbs a portion of UV (Ultra Violet) light called UVB from the sun, preventing it from reaching the planet’s surface. Thus, it protects from many harmful effects, including skin cancers, cataracts, and harm to some crops and marine life. But this good ozone is gradually being destroyed by man-made chemicals referred to as ozone-depleting substances (ODS), including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), etc.

Strategies to prevent the formation of tropospheric ozone.

• Fossil fuels & transport sector
  • Vapor recovery nozzles at the gasoline pumps to reduce refueling emissions.
  • Cleaner burning gasoline is reformulated through catalytic convertors to reduce VOC, NOx, etc.
  • Strict NOx emission limits for power plants and industrial combustion sources.
• Agriculture sector:
  • Apply intermittent aeration of continuously flooded rice fields.
  • Introduce selective breeding to reduce emission intensity and increase production.

• Waste management

• • Separate and treat biodegradable municipal waste, and turn it into compost or bioenergy.
  • Upgrade wastewater treatment with gas recovery and overflow control.
• Better Monitoring of Ozone mitigation initiatives such as that of long-range Transboundary Air Pollution through the implementation of the Gothenburg protocol and effective forecasting through SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting).

The Government has further taken initiatives such as the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), etc. to check ozone pollution and improve air quality. There is a need for the effective implementation of multi-faceted programs to cut NOx and VOC emissions from vehicles, industrial facilities, and electric utilities. Voluntary programs may also be started to encourage the communities to adopt practices, such as carpooling, to reduce harmful emissions.