TNPCB to hold public hearings on draft coastal zone management plans

Hearing to be held at Kovalam on August 18 pertaining to Chengalpattu district; land use maps for 12 districts available on the website and suggestions invited from the public till August 4

The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) will hold a public hearing on the draft coastal zone management plan (CZMP) for Chengalpattu district on August 18. The hearing is to take place on Kovalam beach. 

The Department of Environment and Climate Change recently released the draft CZMP and land use maps for 12 coastal districts of Tamil Nadu in English and Tamil on its website (http://www.environment.tn.gov.in). The department has invited suggestions on the maps prepared by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai, till August 4.

The maps for two coastal districts of Chennai and Tiruvallur are yet to be released owing to a pending case in the National Green Tribunal, which directed the government to redo the “faulty” map along Ennore. 

“The CZMP in 1:25000 scale for 12 coastal districts of Tamil Nadu has been prepared as per the existing procedures and guidelines under CRZ Notification 2019 and the said draft plan has been prepared indicating zonations such as CRZ I (Ecological Sensitive Area), CRZ II (Developed Area), CRZ III (Rural areas etc.,), CRZ IV (Water Area), cadastral information and so on,” said the Department of Environment and Climate Change. 

R. Kannan, Member Secretary, TNPCB, said the board was helping the Tamil Nadu Coastal Zone Management Authority (TNCZMA) with public hearings in all the 14 coastal districts. “For now, meetings have been scheduled in 12 districts for which the plans have been released,” he said.