The Secretary, Department of Earth Sciences, DrShailesh Nayak, has had an illustrious career spanning29 years at the Indian Space Research Organisationand has been instrumental in some of the majordevelopments in the areas of oceanography, resource managementand forecasting technologies. In conversation withBureaucracy Today, Dr. Shailesh talks at length about the department'sprogress over the years and also talks aboutareas that need development. Excerpts from the interview.How has the functioning of the Department of EarthSciences evolved in recent times?
Our studies have always centred on the study of each ofthe earth's spheres and how thesesystems interact with each other.There are a number of factors thatdetermine how the natural elementsaround us behave.We do notknow how they interact, but whatwe do know for sure is that they do,and we also know their impact. So,in order to be well prepared to dealwith any untoward happenings weneed to be constantly striving toturn into a knowledge enterprise,if we are to provide services thatare helpful to the public at large.The progress has been in terms ofinteraction with our foreign counterparts.
What are the areas that youhave been working together on?
Areas that we have been workingtogether on are measurement ofcurrents, analysis of past monsoons,Green House gases and assimilationof data. In terms oftechnology, there are some modelsthey use for better data collectionand also possess high-computingsystems. Efforts are on from ourend to implement some of thesemodels by November this year.
Where do we stand in terms of our ability to determinenatural disasters before hand?
It is a very important area of work for our department. Ifwe take the case of tsunamis, the reaction time is very less.The presence of a network of systemic statistics is very important.There are systems in place to check pressures atthe bottom of the sea-bed, so that we can know even theslightest of movements which could have an impact leadingto a natural disaster. There has been a need for effective internationalnetworking and with increasing internationalcooperation; the detection systemis only getting better now.
What are the major challenges that your departmentfaces?What are the areas that you feel need development?
Weather forecasting is an area that needs improvement.We are planning tomake our forecasts specific and accurate.Also, the Indian Meteorological Department's long-rangeand short-range predictions are not perfect, but we are quiteaccurate when it comes to medium-range predictions.Whatwe need to do is to get our predictions to the district level.Weneed to runmore region-specificmodels at higher grids to beable to accurately dispense informationeven at the taluka level.Some region-specific forecast modelshave already been initiated inviewof the CommonwealthGames.We hope to provide accurate forecastsfor all venues in Delhi.
What new initiative is the DoESinvolved in?
Deep sea technologies are beingdeveloped for observations and explorationof mineral wealth. Suchtechnologies include developmentof remotely operable vehicle (ROV)equipped with cameras and mechanicaldevices. The submersiblehas been developed at the NationalInstitute of Ocean Technology(NIOT). Themachinewas tested recentlyand it worked very well. Theobjective of qualifying the ROSUB6000 at PMN site at maximumdepth available has been achieved.
How has been the support fromthe Government?
The support from the Governmenthas been very encouraging.What makes the difference is thatsince our Minister has been an engineer,he understands all aspects of our functioning andtakes active interest in the field. He has devoted sufficienttime and regularly visits our sites. Even when he is busy, healways takes stock of our progress through routine presentations.At the budgetary level, there are not many restrictions.The Government has set aside Rs. 1,000 crore for thedepartment's modernisation which should be complete bythe end of 2012.
