India to have manned submersibles under Deep Ocean Mission soon
(Sourced from PTI)
In the next five years, India will have an ambitious program of manned submersibles that can carry three scientists to a depth of 6,000 meters into the ocean under the Deep Ocean Mission, Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday. He was speaking at the 15th Foundation Day event of the Ministry of Earth Sciences in New Delhi.
Singh said that the Deep Ocean Mission, approved by the Cabinet in June, will expand the exploration and utilization of deep-sea resources even further for societally benefitting activities. The aim of this more than Rs. 4,000 crore mission is to make India self-reliant in ocean technology, create more jobs in this field, and enhance the capacity building of institutions working in this sector.
The project will be executed by the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Singh also suggested that when Gaganyaan -- India's first manned mission to space -- takes off, the MoES should also undertake this mission. The two missions will simultaneously take Indians to space and deep sea, he said. The ambitious Gaganyaan mission aims to carry three Indians to space.
The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has designed and developed many modules for manned submersible which can go down to 6,000 meters. NIOT is also collaborating with ISRO on this project. The development is expected to be completed by 2024. When completed, India will be the sixth country to have manned submersibles for deep-sea exploration after the US, China, Japan, Russia, and France.
Singh also launched MoES-ESSDP (Earth System Science Data Portal), an integrated digital web portal of MoES institutes, which makes available data on various themes of earth system science for public use. It is aligned with the Digital India initiative of the Government of India, to facilitate search and retrieval of earth system science data of atmosphere, ocean, poles, geosciences, and seismology for societal benefit.
MoES Secretary M Rajeevan said the ministry is also planning to start radar meteorology in Bengaluru. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) also introduced a new mobile app, named Pune Weather Live, which captures live data, including information on rainfall, from more than 80 weather stations.
