Mangaluru: Information regarding various mineral and sand pockets off the shores of Indian coast was revealed to the members of the media by Geological Survey of India (GSI) Director General A Raju in his visit to the city on Thursday, 27 October.
Being one of the oldest scientific organizations in the world, GSI has conducted extensive research on the off-shore mining potential through their advanced research vessel R V Samudra Ratnakar. The vessel has identified five mounds of phosphorite and four humungous sand pockets which can be used for fertilizers and construction respectively.
Speaking to the media on mineable sand, Deputy Director General of GSI V Devdas said that R V Samudra Ratnakar has identified 2000 million tonnes of construction sand off the shore along the Indian coast.
M Raju spoke about a new geo-technical vessel to be built at the cost of Rs. 200 crore which will perform extensive marine explorations for mineral and chemical resources. “An international tender has been floated for this new proposed vehicle after the center has given a nod for it. It is to be introduced by the end of 2018 and will be heavily equipped with 27 instruments for state of the art sea bed mapping, identification of resources and mineral pockets”, he said.
Raju also spoke about how sea sand mining will not affect the ecology. He said, “We can mine the 2000 million tonnes of sand while not harming the ecology. Offshore sand mining can be used as a last resort when mining on the shore can be a problem. After the mid-sea sand has been mined, a period of five year buffer time can be given to the area so that the sand deposits can be replenished.”
He also revealed that an area of 2797 sq. kilometers of kerala off-shore has been identified as potential construction sand mining area and a total of 4525 sq. kilometers 10 kilometers off the east coast, a potential construction and carbonate sand mining area has also been identified.
