PANJIM: While uncertainty looms over the finalisation of the long-pending Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) 2011, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has granted Goa just two months to complete and finalise the CZMP 2019 that will be based on the 2019 CRZ notification.
All other States have approved their 2011 Coastal Zone Management Plan.
A six-member NGT bench headed by Chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel, in an order passed on April 11, noted that in spite of the CRZ Notification being issued in January 2019, the CZMPs 2019 have not been finalised and approved for 11 States and Union Territories.
Based on the submission made by the Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), the Bench also observed that CZMPs 2011 of all coastal States except Goa have been approved under the provisions of the CRZ Notification, 2011.
Also, except for Goa, all other coastal States have commenced work on the CZMP 2019. Few States have even conducted public hearings on the draft plans.
“We note that in spite of the CRZ Notification being issued in January 2019, the CZMPs (2019) have not been finalised and approved for 11 States/UT. This is a gross violation of Hon’ble Supreme Court judgment,” the bench noted.
The CRZ Notification, 2019 regulates foreshore developmental activities and ports and harbours are prohibited in high erosion stretches.
“Accordingly, we direct Chief Secretaries of the Coastal States /UT to finalise the CZMP and get them approved by MoEF within 2 months. The approved CZMP shall contain the parameters as listed in the CRZ 2019 Notification including high, medium, and low erosion stretches for such erosion-prone areas,” the bench ordered.
The coastal States have also been directed to prepare Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) in consultation with the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) for erosion-prone areas.
“We further direct preparation/updation of their SMPs for such identified eroding stretches shown in the CZMPs within six months,” it said.
Pending preparation/updation of SMPs by the Coastal States/UTs, no further hard structures for erosion control be raised or constructed, the bench ordered.
