PANJIM: Environment Minister Alex Sequeira has said that the State government will write to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to grant it to re-look into Goa Coastal Zone Management Plan (GCZMP) 2011 as there are some discrepancies in it.
Speaking to reporters, Sequeira said as CZMP 2011 is the base for the CZMP 2019, corrections are required in the former to go ahead with the latter.
“We are in the process of finalising CZMP 2019. When we were undertaking the work, we found few discrepancies vis-a-vis the CZMP 2011. So we have proposed to approach the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to give us permission to look into the CZMP 2011. Without the permission of the union ministry, we cannot go ahead with the CZMP 2011,” he said.
However, the Environment Minister said that the discrepancies were small in nature, primarily pertaining to high tide level and the dimensions of the plots.
“Major changes would not be carried out,” he said, adding the corrections are required to go ahead with the CZMP 2019.
The Goa government is in the process of preparing CZMP 2019. It has sought permission from the union government to complete the CZMP 2019 until May 2024.
Earlier, the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) had directed all the States to complete their 2019 CZMP by October 31, 2023. The Authority had said that if the CZMP is not submitted before the deadline, no project should be considered for CRZ clearance as per the CRZ Notification of 2011.
