TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Environment Minister Alina Saldanha disclosed that the government intends to submit the problems of coastal dwellers to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests as their cases cannot be disposed off till an amendment in the Coastal Regulation Zone notification of 2011 is made. She said that she would lead a delegation to meet the environment minister on the issue and try to get it resolved.
Replying to a question by Congress MLA Pandurang Madkaikar on what the action the State had taken or was being taken to protect the houses coming under CRZ, of the traditional fishermen from the coastal areas, the minister said that no proposals for regularization were received till date, but the normal procedure was that Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) processes and examines the proposals received under Para 6 (d) of CRZ Notification 2011, which provides that the dwelling units of the traditional coastal communities (especially) fisherfolk, tribals which have not obtained formal approval from authorities concerned under the CRZ notification shall be considered by the respective Coastal Zone Management Authorities and the dwelling units are regularized as long as they are not used for any commercial activity, sold or transferred to non–traditional coastal community.
Alina however conceded that unless there was an amendment to the CRZ notification 2011, these cases cannot be disposed off. “The government is considering the coastal dwellers’ grievances and once we place these before the environment minister we hope that some amendment can be made to the CRZ notification.
She said that the government was aware that many of these coastal dwellers do not have proper documents and all these problems would be placed before the union minister. When Madkaikar wanted to know whether the government would conduct a survey of these people who come under para 6(D), Alina said that normally when they apply, they normally conduct a site inspection.
