Even as another World Environment Day is being observed on Thursday, the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification 2011 announced with the aim of protecting the coastal ecology of the country is yet to come into force in the State.
As a result, there is still confusion within departments concerned on whether the CRZ Notification 1991 is still in force. Though it was announced that the 2011 notification replaces the 1991 notification, many feel that since the former is yet to come into force the latter is still running.
The reason for this is that the State government is yet to submit its Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF). The plan is mainly to indentify the hazard line which involves assessing possible shoreline changes in the next 50 to 100 years.
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When the 2011 notification was announced, all littoral States and Union Territories were asked to prepare their own CZMP through a qualified agency and submit it within two years. That deadline ended in January 2013. But the State government dilly-dallied on it and entrusted the task to the Centre for Earth Science Studies only two months ago.
The 2011 notification was prepared with the objective of protecting the livelihood of traditional fishing communities, promotion of economic activity and protection of the coastal ecology.
The 2011 notification has special provisions for Goa, Kerala, Greater Mumbai, and critically vulnerable coastal areas such as Sunderbans Mangrove Area, Chilka and Bhitarkanika (Orissa), Gulf of Khambat and Gulf of Kutchh (Gujarat), Malwan (Maharashtra), Karwar and Kundapur (Karnataka), Vembanad (Kerala), Coringa, East Godavari and Krishna Delta (Andhra Pardesh), and Gulf of Mannar (Tamil Nadu).
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The respective States and Union Territories were asked to prepare the CZMP with the involvement of local communities.
But the inordinate delay in submitting the plan has resulted in an uncertainty over coastal ecology protection. Environment activists said the fate of all environment protection measures were the same. Initially, protection measures were brought out with much fanfare. But soon afterwards, they were stalled for the purpose of diluting them with amendments.
They alleged that the 1991 notification was replaced mainly for the purpose of facilitating the needs of the industrial and tourism sectors. There was no need to replace bona fide fishing community members from the coastal ecotones since fishing community members do not engage is coastal ecology destruction. Environmentalists argued that fishing community members should be given rights on the coastal areas on par with the Forest Rights Act.