Revision summary
India’s coast and EEZ hold fish, ports, offshore energy, beach minerals, salt, and tourism. Cyclones, the 2004 tsunami, surge, and erosion are the main natural hazards. The Disaster Management Act, 2005, IMD, INCOIS, and cyclone shelters have lowered death counts. CRZ rules and mangrove buffers are unevenly enforced. Ports and fishers need the same map of hazard before the next surge.
Model answer
Flow diagram
flowchart TD C[Long coastline] --> R[Fish ports oil minerals tourism] C --> H[Cyclone tsunami surge erosion] W[IMD INCOIS NDMA CRZ] --> P[Better warning shelters] H --> G[Gap in last-mile and erosion] R --> S[Blue economy] P --> S
Conclusion
- Treat mangroves and dunes as infrastructure, not as spare land for ports.
- Complete cyclone shelters, all-weather houses under coastal PMAY-U and state schemes, and boat-to-phone warning for small fishers.
- Align Sagarmala and coastal power plants with NDMA flood and surge maps before construction.
The long coast can feed fisheries, ports, minerals, and tourism if the EEZ is used with care. Preparedness has improved in cyclone warning and law since 2005, but erosion, surge, and weak local enforcement still leave fishers and slums exposed.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Discuss the natural resource potentials of 'Deccan trap'
Next question on this syllabus topic (2022 · Q6). View answer →
-
Has cyclone preparedness actually improved?
Deaths have fallen with warnings and shelters compared with 1999 Odisha. Livelihood and house loss remain high.
-
Is Sagarmala in conflict with hazard safety?
It can be if ports ignore surge and mangrove maps. It need not be if those maps bind the project.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2025 · Q14 · GS I · 15 marks
Give a geographical explanation of the distribution of off-shore oil reserves of the world. How are they different from the on-shore occurrences of oil reserves? -
2023 · Q5 · GS I · 10 marks
Why is the world today confronted with a crisis of availability of and access to freshwater resources? -
2022 · Q6 · GS I · 10 marks
Discuss the natural resource potentials of 'Deccan trap' -
2022 · Q14 · GS I · 15 marks
What are the forces that influence ocean currents? Describe their role in fishing industry of the world. -
2021 · Q5 · GS I · 10 marks
Despite India being one of the countries of the Gondwanaland, its mining industry contributes much less to its Gross Domestic Product(GDP) in percentage. Discuss. -
2021 · Q16 · GS I · 15 marks
Discuss the multi-dimensional implications of uneven distribution of mineral oil in the world. -
2021 · Q17 · GS I · 15 marks
What are the main socio-economic implications arising out of the development of IT industries in major cities of India? -
2020 · Q6 · GS I · 10 marks
How will the melting of Himalayan glaciers have a far- reaching impact on the water resources of India?
More from this topic
Q14 · UPSC Mains 2025 · GS I · 15 marks
Give a geographical explanation of the distribution of off-shore oil reserves of the world. How are they different from the on-shore occurrences of oil reserves?
Natural Resources and Industries
Offshore oil lies in sedimentary traps on continental shelves and slopes. Major provinces include the Persian Gulf, North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, Brazil’s pre-salt, and India’s Mumbai High and KG basin. The geology is kin to onshore basins; the difference is water depth, platforms and spill behaviour. Onshore fields are usually cheaper to develop and easier for a state to hold physically. Disputed seas turn offshore oil into a geopolitical resource, not only a geological one.
Q5 · UPSC Mains 2023 · GS I · 10 marks
Why is the world today confronted with a crisis of availability of and access to freshwater resources?
Natural Resources and Industries
Usable freshwater is a small and uneven share of global water. Farms, falling groundwater, climate shifts, and pollution cut availability. Poverty, tanker markets, and transboundary politics cut access. Virtual water in trade moves scarcity from one region to another. SDG 6 will fail unless drinking rights, irrigation reform, and clean rivers are treated as one task.
Q14 · UPSC Mains 2022 · GS I · 15 marks
What are the forces that influence ocean currents? Describe their role in fishing industry of the world.
Natural Resources and Industries
Surface currents are driven mainly by winds, turned by Coriolis, and steered by coasts. Density differences drive slower deep thermohaline flow; monsoons reverse the north Indian Ocean. Upwelling eastern-boundary currents feed the great anchovy and sardine industries. Warm–cold mixing off Japan and the Grand Banks feeds rich mixed fisheries. El Niño and overfishing show that current wealth is not a guaranteed harvest.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.