New Delhi, Nov. 20 -- In the last 50 years, sea level along the Indian coast has risen by 8.5 cm with the decade between 2003 and 2013 showing the annual average rise at a greater speed.

On an average, the sea level along the Indian coast is considered to be rising at about 1.70 mm/year, but during the last decade (2003-2013) (till the time the reading was made) it experienced a rise at a rate of 6.1 mm/year, the Centre informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Union Minister Babul Supriyo, however, said since no long-term data on land subsidence or emergence are available, the rate of increase of sea level due to climate change cannot be attributed with certainty. He was responding to a question on whether several cities will submerge in th...