India's Antarctic Programme opened in 1981 when the first Indian Expedition was flagged off for Antarctica from
Goa. Subsequently, annual Antarctic expeditions are being sent through Department of Ocean Development / National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research (
NCAOR). So far, twenty-one such expeditions have been launched including one to the
Weddell Sea and one being the krill expedition to the Southern Ocean. Dr. S. Z. Qasim was the leader of the first Indian Expedition, which was launched in December 1981.
A third permanent Indian Antarctic Research Base Station is being planned and should be operational by 2008. A draft `comprehensive environment evaluation` of the new station site, which is slated to be 600 km east of the
Maitri, has been prepared by the
NCAOR to be submitted to the
Antarctic Treaty Consultative Machinery.
Stations in Antarctic
References
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