High-resolution maps featuring the high tide line (HTL) and various Coastal Regulation Zones (CRZs) in coastal areas, drawn up as part of the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) document, will be supplied to local bodies shortly.
The decision comes in the wake of protests against the draft CZMP, which was placed for public hearing in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts.
Similar documents will be prepared for Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram, Kannur, Kasaragod and Kozhikode.
The CZMP is significant for a coastal area as it would govern all developmental activities in the waterfront areas.
It will also prescribe permissions and impose restrictions on development activities in waterfront areas. Once notified by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, the CZMPs will hold good for five years.
The Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA) has decided to replace the earlier maps with the ones made in 1:4000 scale.
The earlier map was prepared in 1:25000 scale, sources said.
There were complaints that the details of CRZ areas were not discernible from the maps supplied earlier. Besides the soft copy of the map, one hard copy, which will run into around 90 maps for Thiruvananthapuram, will also be supplied to the coastal local bodies.
The details of the holdings and HTL could be obtained from the earlier map too, if zoomed to 620 per cent, KCZMA sources said.
The public hearings in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam have been rescheduled in the process.
While the meeting will be held on April 24 at Thiruvananthapuram, the date for Kollam has not been fixed.
There would not be much time left for the public to raise objections to the document after the public hearing as the KCZMA had released them to public domain earlier.
Final document
The final document will have to be submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, before April 30, as directed by the National Green Tribunal.
On the complaints of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board facilitating the public hearing, the KCZMA officials said such an arrangement was made as specified in the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, which was derived from the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
The Maharashtra government had also made similar arrangements for the public hearing.
Meanwhile, the authority has decided to approach the NGT seeking to extend the deadline for submitting the CZMP to July 31.
The case will come up for hearing on March 19.
