Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports, said on Wednesday that he would discuss the verdict of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) cancelling permits of sand extraction in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) areas in the district with the officers of the departments of Law and Mines and Geology.
Speaking to presspersons here, Mr. Madhwaraj said that sand could not be extracted in CRZ areas as per the CRZ notification. The sand bars can be removed only if they affected the movement of fishing boats. Other than this, there was no provision for extraction and sale of sand in the CRZ areas. The applicants had approached the NGT on this aspect and the verdict had gone in their favour.
“We have to see how we can solve this problem. We were optimistic that we could get the stay vacated. But we have to obey the verdict of the NGT. We will have to see if we can appeal against the verdict or if there is any other alternative,” he said.
Mr. Madhwaraj said that the State government would have to study if it could pass a law as it had done in the case of Kambala. But the CRZ norms were framed by the Union government. The State would have to discuss the issue with the Union government, he said.
To another query, Mr. Madhwaraj said that there was drinking water problem in the high-lying areas of the city. The Udupi City Municipal Council was supplying water to these areas through tankers. The government had sanctioned ₹ 102 crore under the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project (KUDCEMP). This would help in finding a permanent solution to the water problem, he said.
