PANJIM: For nearly two and half years now, even after spending over Rs 2 crore, the State is yet to have the Coastal Zone Management Plan and this has affected around 25 government projects, that have been put on hold pending the finalisation of the plan.
The affected government agencies are Goa Tourism Development Corporation (15), Tourism (1), FIsheries (4), Water Resources Department (3), Sewage Corporation (1) and River Navigation Department (1). They include tourism beautification projects proposed at Arossim, Gonsua, Betalbatim, Utorda, Cansaulim, Isorcim, Majorda, Velsao, Benaulim and Dona Paula. Besides, beautification of Carambolim Lake and reconstruction of ferry ramp at Tiracol are also on hold.
Not only government projects, sources reveal several private projects are also held up due to the delay in the CZMP.
The GCZMA member secretary has missed his own deadline. Fifteen days earlier in a statement he had said that the CZMP plans for South Goa will be made public on August 25 and North Goa on August 30, 2018. Till the August 28th there was no sign of it. The third deadline given by NGT to complete the CZMP plans is again expiring on the August 31, 2018.
Former GCZMA member and scientist Antonio Mascarenhas said that the CZMP is a must an he does not know why it has not been done since 2011. “CZMP gives you a clear idea of fishing villages, sand dunes etc besides the HTL and LTL. The development in coastal area has to be done keeping in view of the CZMP,” he said.
Chennai-based institution, The National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), is drafting the plan and had submitted a new draft plan to the Goa government on May 9, 2017. However, during the presentation, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and the coastal MLAs had suggested few changes with regards the demarcation of fishing villages.
The State has already paid Rs 1.11 crore in its first work order
dated March 29, 2016 and issued a second work order to the same agency in 09/03/2017.
The finalisation of the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) for Goa has been delayed, as the State government has sought an extension till October 31 to complete the plan and submit it to the Union Ministry for Environment and Forest (MoEF).
Earlier this year, the State, through Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), had moved an application before the National Green Tribunal (NGT), principal bench New Delhi, seeking an extension. NGT, through a country wide order in November 2017, had set a deadline of April 30, 2018 for all coastal States and Union Territories to submit CZMPs. MoEF was granted three months till July 30, to approve the plans.
As an interim order, NGT had banned granting permissions for developmental projects in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) pending finalisation of the CZMP.
The process to draft the CZMP for Goa had begun in March 2016, after its old plan of 1996 had expired in January 2017. Sources revealed that the finalisation of the plan has been delayed due to various technical issues like digitisation of 8,500 cadastral maps, superimposing the camera photos and the ground-truthing report, which is in process.
“This will be followed by public consultation. The plan has to be kept open for public suggestions for a period of one month. And post incorporating those suggestions, the final plan will be approved by GCZMA, State Government and MoEF,” sources said.
The government also wanted water bodies in the CRZ areas and fish breeding areas to be clearly marked. “The entire exercise will need another three-four months,” sources revealed.
