New Delhi: Dr. Srinivasa Kumar Tummala, a well-known oceanographer, has officially taken over as Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). He steps in for N. Kalaiselvi, who had been managing the ministry’s affairs as an additional responsibility, with M. Ravichandran having held the post full-time before that.
His arrival comes at a busy time for the ministry, as India pushes ahead with its Deep Ocean Mission, works on sharper climate modelling, and builds out early warning systems meant to protect coastal communities and support the country’s wider Blue Economy plans.
A career built around the ocean
Tummala brings more than thirty years of experience to the role, having worked across remote sensing, satellite oceanography, coastal hazard planning and disaster management. That background puts him in a strong position as India looks to grow its work in oceanography, polar research, weather-related disaster prevention and sustainable use of marine resources.
A track record in global tsunami warning work
Before stepping into this role, Tummala held several senior posts both in India and abroad. He headed the ICG/IOTWMS Secretariat under UNESCO-IOC in Perth, where he ran regional tsunami warning networks spanning 28 countries around the Indian Ocean and pushed for standardised ocean monitoring, along with the rollout of the Tsunami Ready Community Recognition Programme.
He also served as Director of ESSO-INCOIS in Hyderabad from August 2020, a period that saw the centre strengthen its Potential Fishing Zone advisories, coral reef bleaching alerts and hazard vulnerability mapping.
Perhaps most notably, in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Tummala led the project to build India’s Tsunami Early Warning System at INCOIS from the ground up, work that eventually saw the centre recognised internationally as a Tsunami Service Provider.
Awards and academic work
Tummala’s contributions haven’t gone unnoticed. He received the National Geoscience Award in 2010 from the Ministry of Mines for his role in setting up India’s tsunami warning infrastructure, and the Indian National Geospatial Award in 2008 from the Indian Society of Remote Sensing for his work on geospatial tools used in disaster mitigation and marine mapping.
He’s also published more than 100 papers in international scientific journals and served as Vice-Chair of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Coordination Group.
What comes next
With Tummala now leading the ministry, the focus is expected to stay on strengthening India’s ocean observation networks, improving atmospheric modelling, developing deep-ocean exploration technology, and expanding services that support climate resilience and healthier oceans across the region.