NEW DELHI: The “Prithvi Vigyan” programme, which consists of five ongoing sub-schemes related to earth sciences, got approved by the Union Cabinet on Friday, at a cost of Rs 4,797 crore over the course of five years, from 2021 to 2026. The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by PM Modi, approved the proposal of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) to club the sub-schemes.
It said these integrated research and development efforts will help in addressing the grand challenges of weather and climate, ocean, cryosphere, seismological science and services and explore the living and non-living resources for their sustainable harnessing.
The objectives of the overarching “PRITHVI” scheme includes augmentation and sustenance of long-term observations of the atmosphere, ocean, geosphere, cryosphere and solid earth to record vital signs of the earth system and change, development of modelling systems for understanding and predicting weather, ocean and climate hazards, and understanding the science of climate change.
“Various components of the PRITHVI scheme are interdependent and are carried out in an integrated manner through combined efforts of institutes under the Ministry of Earth Sciences,” the statement said.