India is now equipped with modern technologies to churn the deep seas in search of wealth like polymetallic nodules which contain manganese, copper, nickel and cobalt.
Indigenously developed underwater crawlers, remotely operable vehicles and in-situ soil management systems can aid explorations at a depth of 6,000 metre below the sea level. There was some small demonstrations to test the efficacy of these equipment. ?Now we are ready to have a bigger demonstration project along the east coast. All the developed technologies would be connected with the Sagar Kanya ship for exploration,? said the Union minister for earth sciences, Kapil Sibal, while addressing a press conference on Friday.
International Seabed Authority (ISA) of the United Nations has allotted to India a site of 150,000 sq km in central Indian Ocean for deep-sea exploration. This mining site is located about 2000 km down south of the extreme tip of the Indian peninsula?Kanya Kumari, with the nearest island being 500 km away.
India is the only country to be accorded mining rights in the Indian Ocean, other countries are accorded such rights in the Pacific Ocean.
With the accorded rights, India would not only be able to exploit potato-shaped polymetallic nodules which are available at depths, greater than 4000 metre, but also explore and harness gas hydrates and manufacture drugs from deep-sea flora and fauna. The exploration of gas hydrates would help to prevent natural disasters and it can be used for meeting energy needs.
The polymetallic nodules contain about 30% manganese, 2% copper and nickel and 0.3% cobalt, apart from traces of other minerals. Copper and nickel are not available in the country?s mainland and hence its exploration in the deep seas would be significant.
Sibal said ?the exploration technology developed by the Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) is in a niche area and has placed India in the coveted list of other developed countries which have developed deep-sea technologies. The technology and know-how developed and tested by NIOT will help to explore greater depths in the ocean for deriving benefits from non-living resources. The developed technologies can resist?high pressures at sea depths (about 500 times higher than the atmospheric pressure).?
