Thousands of islanders in Kerala are eagerly waiting for the preparation of the Integrated Island Management Plan (IIMP) to claim benefits of relaxed Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.
Once the IIMP is prepared for islands, residents will get more land for construction of homes and other buildings.
Currently, a 50-metre area from the High Tide Line has to be left as a No Development Zone (NDZ) on the islands, forcing residents to leave a significant portion of their holdings untouched. Constructions are only possible towards the landward side from the 50-metre NDZ, as stipulated in the CRZ Rules 2011.
However, the amendments to the rules introduced in 2019 reduced the NDZ to just 20 metres, thus freeing more area on the islands for construction and other development activities. The State needs to get the IIMPs approved by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for the islands of areas 10 hectares and above to claim the benefits of the 2019 rules. Till then, the 20-metre NDZ will hold water. For smaller islands, the Union Ministry is yet to bring out the final guidelines for the preparation of IIMP, pointed out those at the Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority.
Kerala has 1,416 islands of which 217 have an area of 10 hectares and above. Most of the islands are densely populated too. Ernakulam has the most number of islands in the State at 810. Of this, 106 belong to the 10-hectare category. Alappuzha has 30 islands in the 10-hectare category followed by Kollam (19), Thrissur (15) and Kasaragod and Kannur, 12 each.
Suneel Pamidi, Member Secretary of the Authority, said the State had asked the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai, to prepare the IIMP two months ago. The preparation of the plan may take some time considering the high number of islands. The expert teams will have to visit each island and get the required details to prepare the plan. The NCSCM has started working on the project, Mr. Pamidi said.
