Coastal salinity in Gujarat increasing by the day, says study

Gujaratboasts of the longest coastline in the country and it has paved way for industrial development along thecoastalarea in the past couple of decades. However, the industrialization and consequent Migration have contributed majorly to increase salinity in the state.

In its latest book titled Revisiting ECOLOGY of the Gujarat coast: Trends of last two decades, city-basedGujarat Ecology Society(GES) tried ascertaining how coastal dynamics have been altered over a span of 23 years.

In 1960, Khar Land Development Board had found that 12,164 sq km land in the state was saline which increased to 16,899 sq km in 1992 as per the study done by Central Salinity Research Institute. In 2019,Indian Space Research Organisations research found 18,073 sq km of land saline.