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India’s Longer Coastline
How India ‘added’ more than 3,500 km to its coastline
Context: India’s coastline has officially expanded by nearly 50%, not due to territorial expansion but because of more accurate recent measurements.
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- The recent update recalculates India’s coastline to be 11,098 km long, up from the earlier estimate of 7,516 km.
- Additionally, the total number of Indian islands has been revised, shedding new light on the country’s maritime geography.
- This change, though largely technical, has important administrative, environmental, and strategic implications.
How Has the Coastline Length Increased Without Any Land Gain?
- This results from improved measurement techniques, not any new territorial acquisition.
- Earlier, the coastline was measured using low-resolution data with a scale of 1:4,500,000, leading to underestimation of intricate land contours.
- The new measurements used high-resolution GIS data at a scale of 1:250,000, allowing for far more detailed mapping of coastal bends, inlets, and irregularities.
What Is the Coastline Paradox and How Does It Apply to India?
- The phenomenon behind this surprising increase is known as the coastline paradox—a mathematical concept stating that natural features like coastlines do not have a fixed length.
- Their measured length varies depending on the scale or resolution of measurement.
- As technology improves, future measurements may further extend India’s coastline, reinforcing the paradox.
How Has the Number of Indian Islands Changed and Why?
- Unlike coastlines, counting islands is not subject to the coastline paradox but has its own challenges.
- Ambiguities in definitions, such as tidal variations and classification criteria, have historically led to inconsistent island counts.
- In 2016, the Office of the Surveyor General of India listed 1,382 offshore islands.
- However, a later reconciliation involving multiple agencies—such as state governments, the Indian Navy, and the Coast Guard—standardised the count to 1,389 islands, including 91 inshore islands.
- Notably, this count excludes river islands like those in Assam and West Bengal.
What Are the Strategic and Administrative Implications of the New Coastline?
- Coastal Zone Regulations (CRZ): Revised coastal boundaries could lead to redrawing of CRZ zones, affecting environmental planning and development restrictions.
- Climate Change and Coastal Erosion: A more accurate coastline aids in designing better erosion control and climate resilience strategies.
- Infrastructure and Tourism: Port development, coastal highways, and tourism projects can now be planned with better data.
- Maritime Security: Enhanced understanding of islands and coastline length assists in improving coastal surveillance and naval deployments.
Do These Changes Affect India’s International Maritime Boundaries?
- The recalculated coastline and updated island count do not alter India’s international maritime boundaries or Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
- These remain governed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), based on baselines already established.
- The significance of the new data is domestic and operational, providing India with a more accurate understanding of its maritime geography for policy, security, and environmental governance.
