NEW DELHI, JAN 7
Although the CRZ 2011 notification came as a huge relief to the fishing community, the other violators would not be lucky enough as the Centre has stated it will direct the States to identify such violations within four months.
Union Minister for Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh said that directions will be issued early next week to the States to identify such violations within four months from January 7 using latest maps and satellite imagery and initiate action under the Environment Protection Act within four months thereafter.
Details of such violations and action taken will be listed on the websites of the ministry and the concerned coastal zone management authority, while action already initiated where violations have been established will continue unimpeded, Ramesh said.
He also invited public comments on the draft law on coastal zone regulations prepared on the recommendation of the expert committee headed by Dr M S Swaminathan to protect the traditional rights and interests of fishermen and coastal communities on the lines of the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
Apart from codifying the 25 amendments made in the 1991 notification, the new notification has several positive features, he said.
The new CRZ notification 2011 replaces the 1991 CRZ notification, but without condoning the old violations.
Also for the first time, the Environment and Forests Ministry also notified a separate Island Protection Zone (IPZ) notification to cover Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Ramesh said both the notifications would protect the livelihood of traditional fisherfolks, preserve coastal ecology and promote economic activities necessarily to be located in the coastal regions.
He made it clear that the new notification does not mean condoning or regularising violations of the 1991 CRZ notification, barring cases of fishermen families.
WHY SEPARATE LAW FOR FISHERMEN: Ramesh said fishermen bodies wanted a separate law instead of the CRZ notification. “A notification does provide considerable flexibility to the executive (government), but I do acknowledge and appreciate that a law passed by Parliament will enhance public confidence and trust,” he said, promising to take forward the proposed law.
He hailed the 2011 CRZ notification for striking a better balance between the deeper environmental conservation and urgent imperatives of faster economic growth. He said it is based on the public consultations over the past 18 months and it includes recommendations of the expert committee of Dr Swaminathan, Sunita Narain, Dr Shailesh Nayak and J M Mauskar and suggestions received in response to a draft put on the public domain in September.
The special features of the new notification include special provisions for Goa, Greater Mumbai, Kerala, Gulf of Khambat and Kutch, Malwan (Maharashtra) and Coringa, East Godavari and Krishna Delta in Andhra Pradesh.
CLEAR PROCEDURES: The notification provides clear procedures for obtaining the CRZ approval with time-lines as also post-clearance monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. Now water areas up to 12 nautical miles in the sea and the entire water area of a tidal water body such as creek, river, estuary, etc are included in the CRZ areas, albeit without imposing restrictions on the fishing activities.
Also, the concept of a hazard line demarcation over the next five years has been introduced to protect life and property of local communities and infrastructures along the coastal areas. The notification puts in place measures to combat pollution in coastal areas and coastal waters while the shoreline would be mapped through time-series satellite images with no foreshore development being permissible in high-eroding areas, Ramesh added.
