The State government has sought a nine-point relaxation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules so as to enable traditional fishing communities living along tidally influenced waterbodies to construct dwelling units in areas classified under the CRZ III category. Another relaxation sought is the reduction of the No Development Zone in CRZ III along the banks of inland waterbodies to 50 metres from the High Tide Line (HTL) from the present 100 metres.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who met Union Minister for Environment Prakash Javedkar in New Delhi recently, urged the Centre to recognise the traditional coastal communities’ right to inheritance of property in the No Development Zone in CRZ II and CRZ III areas. This would enable them to construct dwelling units on the inherited land .
The Chief Minister, who submitted a memorandum to Mr. Javedkar, also put forward the State’s demand for excluding banks of small streams less than 10 metres wide from the purview of zoning norms. He said the No Development Zone should be reduced in view of the population pressure.
The State government also sought modifications to the CRZ norms that would permit reconstruction of buildings in the No Development Zones of CRZ III areas without increase in existing plinth area, FSI, and density. Mr. Chandy’s memorandum wanted modifications in the CRZ norms to the extent of permitting construction of dwelling units landward of the existing authorised structures or approved roads in backwater islands, where, at present, construction is possible only beyond 50 metres from the HTL. The memorandum also wanted the Centre to permit construction of buildings for livelihood activities like peeling of prawns, fish-based small scale non-polluting cottage industries/small shops, and flour mills in the CRZ area other than CRZ I, CRZ III-NDZ, and CRZ IV.
