05 Jan 2022  |   07:03am IST

State govt submits draft CZMP

State govt submits  draft CZMP

Team Herald


PANJIM: The State government has finally submitted the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) to the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) with five recommendations including removal of the port limits and the structures in the final CZMP Notification of 2011 for Goa.

The draft CZMP was submitted by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority  (GCZMA) last week after taking into account inputs received from the people during two district-level consultations held last year.

The GCZMA has recommended removal of port limits and has sought non-depiction of structures in the final CZMP. It has also asked for removal of buffer zone for mangroves in the khazan land, to permit development activities in the fishing wards and to include all the recommendations made by the State government in the final CZMP Notification, 2011 for Goa.

The State government had engaged the services of the Chennai-based National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), a central agency in preparing the CZMP. 

It is learnt that Goa is the last State to submit draft CZMP to the NCZMA for its concurrence.  

It may be recalled that the two public consultations held in both the districts on March 7 last year marked by chaos and confusion with the participants demanding village-level consultations to prepare the CZMP. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) later asked the Goa government to hold fresh consultations.

The NGT Principal Bench, New Delhi had also dismissed the Goa government’s plea for extension of time for CZMP preparation by six months.

After the draft CZMP was kept open for public suggestions, the Department of Environment received more than 4500 suggestions and objections and other comments from different village panchayats, NGOs, environmentalists, fishing communities and individuals.

IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar