The National Green Tribunal, Chennai, has directed a joint committee to ascertain whether any construction has been made on Karwar Beach and in Kali riverbank areas in violation of CRZ rules and to identify such illegal constructions.
An applicant had alleged that large-scale constructions were going on in the CRZ area without obtaining necessary permissions and sought the withdrawal of the Draft CZMP 2019 of Karnataka Karwar Coast and withdraw the gazette notification to extend the port limit on the Karnataka coast.
The Tribunal said that the draft CZMP was only a draft notification and it was for authorities to finalise it after considering objections raised by the public. The Tribunal also said that the second prayer was of a matter from 2016 and the applicant could not challenge it after a lapse of nearly five years.
However, the Tribunal accepted the prayer on illegal construction on Karwar Beach and in Kali riverbank areas and appointed a joint committee comprising a senior officer or scientist from the MoEF & CC, a senior officer from Karnataka Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA) and a senior officer or scientist from the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Anna University, Chennai.
The joint committee was directed to also ascertain whether the high tide and low tide zones of the CRZ area have been fixed as per the CRZ Notification 2011 and while preparing the plan of identifying the violations, superimpose the CZMP plan and locate the illegal constructions and submit a report.
The Tribunal also directed the committee to ascertain the damage caused to the environment due to the illegal constructions and assess the environmental compensation, including costs required for restoration of loss caused to ecology.
