SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: The State government has received permission to continue granting Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearances for new projects along coasts of the State, sources in the Environment Department told O Heraldo.
According to them, the projects are being cleared based on Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) 2011 and they are to be accepted on Parivesh 2.0 portal from November 15.
Meanwhile, a senior government official said that the government is hopeful of the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) being completed within next three to four months.
“The government is hopeful of completing the plan in 3-4 months as 90 per cent of the variables are available and only ten per cent are to be looked at. We have sought time to complete the plan by May 2024,” he said.
The portal has been marked by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) as a single window integrated system for environment, forest, wildlife and CRZ clearance process.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) on January 18, 2019, had directed all coastal States and Union Territories to update their Coastal Zone Management Plans (CZMP) framed under the 2011 CRZ notification.
It stated that all projects on the coasts will have to be assessed as per the updated Coastal Management Plan aligned with the 2019 CRZ notification. If not completed by October end, the projects on the coasts - private and government - will be stalled.
The MoEF&CC had also asked the States and Union Territories to prepare or update their CZMPs by getting services from reputed scientific institutions or agencies in consultation with stakeholders concerned. The Goa government had entrusted the work of preparing the draft to the National Centre for Earth Science Studies.
In September last year, the NCZMA had asked the States and Union Territories to expedite updating or revision of the CZMPs by December 2022 but the Goa government could not finalise the Plan.
In August this year, the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) directed the coastal state or union territories, which had not finalised their CZMPs as per the CRZ notification, 2019, to do the same within two months.
It said if the CZMPs were not finalised then no projects- government or private- should not be considered for CRZ clearance as per the CRZ notification 2011.
