Island Development
The emphasis of this programme is on building up of
infrastructure and expertise in Ocean Science and Technology for Islands
through development and transfer of technology in the area of marine living
resources, which will bring in socio-economic benefits to the island community.
Several experiments have been carried out under the programme being
implemented by National Institute of Ocean Technology in the following areas:
(a) Fattening of spiny lobsters and mud crabs; (b) Biochemical analysis of
lobsters and live feeds; (c) Water quality and disease management; (d) Spawning
and larval rearing; and (e) Survey of lobster resources in Gulf of Mannar and
Andaman Islands. Various infrastructure facilities were also developed at the
Andaman and Nicobar Centre for Ocean Science and Technology, National
Institute of Ocean Technology, Port Blair.
Marine Archaeological Findings in the Gulf of Cambay
Detailed underwater
surveys carried out in the Gulf of Cambay, about 20 km west of Hazira, brought
to light, the presence of a submerged palaeochannel traceable to a length of 9
km. Associated with this on either side are basement like features found in a
grid pattern at water depths of 20-40 m. Sub-surface sampling revealed stone
artifacts, potsherds, hearth pieces, animal bones and human teeth embedded
in fluvial sands and silts. A carbonised wooden log was found and dated to
around 9500 years BP by 14C method at laboratories in India and abroad.
Marine magnetic survey carried out does not indicate the presence of any
major metallic debris/objects. This appears to be one of the early records of
prehistoric human activity of early Holocene age in the marine environment of
India.
Under a national programme involving over a dozen laboratories and institutions, detailed surveys sampling, mapping and analysing is in progress. T.L. dating of pottery is consistent with 14C results. Submergence of structures in Cambay appears to be a combination of sea-level rise and tectonic disturbance. The existence of Cambay in the north-west and Poompuhar in the south-east – both existing some 7500 BC, open many vistas of prehistory.
