Team Herald
PANJIM: After much delay, the State government has announced the date of the public hearing to finalise the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) for Goa. The hearing will be held on March 7, 2021.
This is the second time that a public hearing has been called to finalise the draft plan, prepared by the by the National Center for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) Chennai. Earlier in 2019, the hearing, had to be cancelled after Ministers, MLAs and the people pointed out to anomalies in the draft plan.
A public notice issued by the Directorate of Environment states that the public hearing to finalise the CZMP, for the entire coastal stretch of the State of Goa in terms of CRZ notification 2011, has been scheduled on March 7, in North and South Goa.
The public hearing will be held at Taleigao Community Hall for North Goa and at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao for South Goa.
Sources said that a final CZMP will be prepared incorporating all the suggestion and objections. “The plan will be then sent to Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) for approval and notification,” sources said.
The first CZMP of Goa was prepared in 1996 and was used as a base plan for 2011 CZMP. The NCSCM has been working on the plan since 2016.
The draft CZMP of Goa has been uploaded on http://www.czma.goa. gov.in while hard copies are also available in Collector and Dy Collectors offices of both the districts and offices of municipalities and corporations in the State.
All stakeholders including institutions, departments, local communities, public, NGOs have been asked to submit suggestions and objections if any on the draft CZMP in writing to the Member Secretary, GCZMA or other designated public authorities within 30 days.
The CZMP will cover shoreline management, conservation management, pollution management, tourism, resource and livelihood management. Currently, pending finalisation of CZMP, no approvals are being granted for any development in coastal areas.
The NGT had in September 2020, in a final ultimatum to the State, granted time till January 31, 2021 to complete the CZMP, while disposing off the petition.
