Programs under National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research
Himadri Research Station:
India’s first research facility in the Arctic is located at Himadri. It’s in the Norwegian territory of Svalbard’s Spitsbergen. It is located at the Ny-Alesund International Arctic Research Base. The distance to the North Pole is 1200 kilometers. The station’s duties include monitoring fjord dynamics and conducting atmospheric research. Himadri carries out studies on glaciers, sedimentology, microbial communities, food web dynamics, aerosol radiation, space weather, and glaciers.
Maitri:
The Second Research Station “Maitri” was constructed on the Schirmacher oasis in 1988 in a stony, ice-free location. The structure was constructed using steel stilts, and it has endured over time. South of Schirmacher, Maitri serves as an entrance to one of the biggest mountain systems in central Droning Maud area. It is an inland station at a height of roughly 50 meters above sea level, 100 kilometers from the coast. It can accommodate 25 people in the main structure during the summer and winter, and roughly 40 people in the summer facility made up of dwelling modules made of shipping containers. The station is made up of a main building, a summer camp, a fuel farm, a gasoline station, a lake water pump house, and several smaller containerized modules. The main building features a controlled power supply, automatic heating with hot and cold running water, incineration restrooms, cold storage, a PA system, living, dining, and lounge areas, as well as laboratory space in shipping containers. The audio, video, and data link with the Indian subcontinent is provided through specialized satellite channels.
Bharati:
The brand-new Indian research facility “Bharati” is situated in Antarctica around 35 m above sea level, about 3000 km east of Maitri. The extremely small-footprint station was inaugurated on March 18, 2012, to support the Indian Antarctic program’s year-round scientific research activities. In the main building, the station can accommodate 47 people on a twin-sharing arrangement both in the summer and the winter. The main structure includes a controlled power supply, automatic heating and air conditioning with hot and cold running water, flush toilets, a sauna, a cold storage facility, a public address system, and visually pleasing living, dining, lounge, and laboratory spaces. The audio, video, and data link with the Indian subcontinent is provided through specialized satellite channels.
Conclusion:
India has strategic, commercial, environmental, and scientific interests in the Arctic. India has maintained a constant and extensive relationship with the Arctic over the years for this reason. The goal of NCPOR is to get the nation ready for a time when the greatest problems facing humanity, like climate change, may be successfully solved. It may be possible to improve the country’s strategy by creating a specialized expert committee to develop, monitor, steer, implement, and assess NCPOR policy.
National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research
On May 25, 1998, India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences established the National Center for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) as an autonomous institution for research and development. It is located in Vasco do Gama, Goa, and was formerly known as the National Center for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR). The mission of NCPOR is to act as a facilitator for the scientific research projects being carried out by various national institutions and organisations in the Arctic. Also it is to manage and carry out all scientific and logistical activities associated with the yearly Indian Arctic expeditions, and to oversee and operate the Indian Arctic base Himadri. It serves as the central organisation for all logistics-related planning, promotion, coordination, and implementation of polar and southern ocean scientific research across the nation. The Center maintains a Research Advisory Committee (RAC) to help guide and concentrate the research activities.