Picture a diver slipping into shallow water off the Gujarat coast. Below is a maze of colour and motion, built entirely by tiny animals. That’s a coral reef. India has four of these underwater cities, and all four are now in trouble. This article covers where they are, what lives there, and what’s threatening them.
🏛️ Must Know
India’s Four Reef Zones
- StoryA coral reef isn’t a rock. It’s built by millions of tiny animals called polyps, each barely a few millimetres wide, living stacked together in colonies.
- Four RegionsIndia has four major coral reef regions. They are the Gulf of Kutch, the Gulf of Mannar, Lakshadweep, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- Gulf of MannarThe Gulf of Mannar became India’s first Marine Biosphere Reserve in 1989. It holds coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangroves together.
- Richest DiversityThe Andaman and Nicobar Islands hold India’s richest coral diversity. They have 177 recorded coral species.
- BleachingCoral bleaching happens when rising sea temperatures stress corals. The corals then expel the algae that give them colour and food. Major bleaching events hit India in 1998, 2010, 2016, and again in 2024.
📘 Good to Know
Reef Decline and Research Response
- StoryMarine biologists now dive with fragments of healthy coral, tying them onto frames underwater. It’s slow, patient work, trying to rebuild what warming oceans keep destroying.
- Gulf of Mannar DeclineLive coral cover in the Gulf of Mannar fell from 37% to 27.3% between 2005 and 2021. A 2020 marine heatwave alone bleached 85% of its corals.
- Lakshadweep DeclineLakshadweep’s coral cover dropped by roughly half between 1998 and 2022. Repeated bleaching events tied to El Niño-linked warming mainly drove this.
- New Research InstituteIndia is building its first dedicated National Coral Reef Research Institute in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is budgeted at ₹120 crore.
- Who Monitors ItAgencies like INCOIS issue coral bleaching alerts. NCSCM and the Zoological Survey of India handle long-term reef monitoring and research.
The Dugong: India’s Marine Herbivore
- What It IsThe dugong is a herbivorous marine mammal, the only one found in Indian waters. It grazes on seagrass beds, earning the nickname “sea cow.”
- Fragmented RangeDugongs are not found along the entire Indian coast. Their range is fragmented, limited mainly to the Gulf of Kutch, the Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the same reef zones covered here.
- Legal ProtectionThe dugong is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the same highest-protection tier as the tiger.
- Dugong Conservation ReserveA Dugong Conservation Reserve was established in 2022 in Palk Bay, Tamil Nadu. It protects about 122 sq km of seagrass habitat.
📝 Previous Year Questions
UPSC CSP 2015 — What’s True About the Dugong
- UPSC 2015Statements 1 and 3 are correct. The dugong is a herbivorous marine animal, and it is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It is not found along the entire Indian coast, so statement 2 is false. See UPSC CSP 2015 GS Paper I, Q19. View this question.
NDA 2017 — Four Reef Regions
- NDA 2017The correct answer is all four: the Gulf of Kutch, the Gulf of Mannar, Lakshadweep, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. All are established major Indian coral reef zones, matching the four regions covered above. See NDA & NA-I 2017 GK Paper, Q116.
CDS-II 2022 — Largest Reef Area
- CDS-II 2022The correct answer is the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which hold India’s largest coral reef area, well ahead of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Lakshadweep. See CDS-II 2022 GK Paper, Q49.
CAPF 2020 — Why Reefs Matter
- CAPF 2020The correct answer is “they protect communities from earthquakes,” which is NOT a real coral-reef benefit. Reefs do give jobs, building material, and storm protection. See CAPF ACs 2020 GK Paper, Q43.
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🌟 Great to Know
Why Protection Alone Isn’t Enough
- A Shared CauseAll four reef zones bleached simultaneously in 2024. That points to a shared regional cause, rising sea-surface temperature, rather than any single local threat.
- Protection Isn’t Enough AloneThe Gulf of Mannar’s early 1989 protection didn’t stop its decline. Formal protected status alone hasn’t been enough against a warming ocean.
- Outsized ImportanceCoral reefs cover a tiny fraction of the ocean floor, yet support disproportionate marine biodiversity. Losing them threatens fisheries and coastal protection far beyond the reef itself.
- A Dedicated InstituteA dedicated national research institute signals how seriously reef decline is now being treated. That’s a stronger commitment than folding coral work into a general marine-biology mandate.
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