Combating the devastating impacts of marine heatwaves and rising ocean acidification, the MoEFCC, alongside the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), has initiated India’s first mega ‘Coral Reef Restoration Project’ in the Marine National Park, Gulf of Kutch. The project deploys cutting-edge ‘Biorock’ technology to revive dying reef ecosystems.
Key Highlights & Strategic Significance
- Biorock Mineral Accretion: The technology involves passing a safe, low-voltage direct electrical current through a submerged steel framework. This triggers the rapid precipitation of dissolved minerals (like calcium carbonate) to form a limestone substrate, accelerating coral growth up to 10 times the normal rate.
- Breeding Climate Resilience: The primary goal is to cultivate ‘super corals’—genetically resilient coral polyps capable of surviving severe bleaching events caused by elevated Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) in the Arabian Sea.
- Ecological Hotspot: The Gulf of Kutch is one of India’s four prominent coral reef zones, globally recognized for its unique endemic hard corals and fragile marine biodiversity.
- Blue Carbon Sinks: Fully restored, healthy coral ecosystems will act as massive ‘blue carbon’ reservoirs, playing a direct role in helping India meet its ambitious Net-Zero emissions target by 2070.
- Socio-Economic Integration: The initiative actively employs local coastal communities, transforming traditional fishermen into paid “reef monitors,” thereby promoting sustainable eco-tourism over exhaustive fishing.
Source Link: https://moef.gov.in/en/coral-reef-restoration-biorock-gulf-of-kutch-2026/
Q4. The innovative ‘Biorock technology’, recently deployed in the Gulf of Kutch for environmental conservation, is fundamentally associated with:
A) Extracting critical rare-earth minerals from deep ocean polymetallic nodules.
B) Restoring degraded coral reefs by using low-voltage electrical currents to accelerate limestone formation.
C) Engineering artificial nesting and breeding grounds for endangered Olive Ridley turtles.
D) Generating renewable electricity by harnessing the kinetic energy of tidal wave movements.
