Kerala may have to wait for some time to take advantage of the new Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification for want of an approved Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP).
For the new notification to come into play, coastal States, including Kerala, will have to get their CZMPs prepared under the CRZ, 2011 notification updated in tune with the 2019 notification issued last week. The CZMP, prepared in consultation with various stakeholders, will define the development activities that could be undertaken along the coastal belt. Under normal circumstances, the CZMP shall not be revised in five years.
For Kerala, even the CZMP prepared under the 2011 notification has not been approved and the document is awaiting the nod of the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA).
The thus notified CZMP will then have to be revised in tune with the 2019 notification and submitted for the approval of the Ministry. While revising the CZMP, the State will have to repeat the process of public hearing and inviting comments from all stakeholders regarding the changes it intends to make in the document.
It was after a delay of nearly three years that the State succeeded in preparing a CZMP.
Section 6 (1) of the CRZ, 2019 notification specifies that the new CRZ regime will not come into force unless the coastal States revise or update their respective CZMPs.
Norms to continue
It further states that “until and unless the CZMPs is so revised or updated, provisions of this notification shall not apply and the CZMP as per provisions of CRZ Notification, 2011 shall continue to be followed for appraisal and CRZ clearance to such projects.” Till the revised CZMP is approved, the CRZ, 2011 will have to be considered for clearing projects, according to the new notification.
According to those at the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority, the CZMP of the 10 coastal districts have been submitted to the NCZMA for approval. Once approved, the document could be revised in tune with the latest notification, they hoped.
Any changes in the CRZ notification will have far-reaching ramifications in the State, which has a nearly 580-km-long coastline and hundreds of thickly populated islands in its backwater and mainland coast. With its high population density and pressure from the tourism, industry and housing sectors, the management of the CRZ regime has always proved to be a tough task for the authorities.
Published - January 24, 2019 12:45 am IST
