Team Herald
PANJIM: The Union Ministry for Environment and Forest (MoEF) via a draft notification, has classified the areas with population density of more than 2161 per sq kms as per 2011 census base as CRZ-III areas, wherein the no development zone measured from the high tide line (HTL) on the landward side has been reduced to 50 metres from the existing 200 metres.
The ministry has permitted temporary tourism activities like shacks in the no-development zone (NDZ). The draft rules, if implemented, will have severe implications on the coastal state like Goa.
Whereas for the areas with population density of less than 2161 per sq kms, designated as CRZ-III B, the NDZ continues to be 200 metres from the HTL. However, the NDZ shall not be applicable in such areas falling within notified port limits.
“Temporary tourism facilities shall be permissible in the NDZ of CRZ-III areas. Such temporary facilities shall only include shacks, toilets, changing rooms, shower panels and walk ways. However, such facilities shall be permitted only subject to the tourism plan featuring in the approved Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP),” the draft notification reads.
At the same time, the local communities including fishermen are permitted to facilitate tourism through ‘home stay’ without changing the plinth area or design of façade of the existing houses.
The draft notification is kept open for public suggestions and objections for a period of 30 days. The notification if implemented will further boost the tourism sector, especially those involved in beach and private shack business. Currently, the temporary seasonal structures are not permitted in NDZ.
In June 2014, MoEFCC had appointed Dr Shailesh Nayak (former secretary of Ministry of Earth Science) to study the necessary changes that could be made to the CRZ notification 2011, following dissatisfaction expressed by various State governments with regard to CRZ limitations. The report submitted in January 2015, was kept under wraps by the Union Ministry. The report was made public in June 2016.
“The move to reduce the NDZ from 200 metres to 50 metres could prove deterrent to coastal ecology. It is like you can now construct anything right on the shore,” a senior official from the State Environment Department said, stating that ‘even in 200 metres of NDZ, environment is widely damaged’.
More so, the draft has enabled constructions closer to coastlines with approval from the town and planning authority.
However, within the CRZ, more classifications have been introduced to delineate environmentally sensitive areas such as reefs, mangroves and nesting sites.
