Goa’s Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) was finally notified by the Centre on Tuesday, much to the relief of the State. However, while the MoEF&CC has notified the plans with maps in the scale of 1:25,000, Environment Minister Nilesh Cabral informed that the Goa government is at liberty to approve and notify local maps of 1:4,000 scale separately. This has momentarily brought peace because exclusions can now be incorporated, especially the 46 lakh sqmts of sand dunes that were omitted as per the GCZMA survey.
However, the decision to notify local maps throws up interesting questions. Can the State government legally tinker with the base plan? Can Goa have a demarcation that is not reflected in the original plan approved by the Centre? The levels of scaling are just a technicality, and the 1:4,000 plan deals with micro detailing. Technically, can this plan be different from the one mapped on a larger scale and already notified?
If the Environment Minister is to be believed, the ball appears to be back in the State government’s court. However, it is to be seen how the contentious issue of sand dunes is handled while finalising the local plan and how swiftly the government acts. The government has been dragging its feet over the coastal plans causing unnecessary delays that even invited a rap from the National Green Tribunal in October 2020.
The local plans have to be closed immediately because it leaves a window open for GCZMA to exercise discretionary powers on areas that are not mapped as sand dunes thus far. Sand dunes have been a stumbling block to many political leaders, some of whom have come out openly against them, stating that they are standing in the way of coastal development, while others were contending that dunes are affecting the livelihoods of the coastal communities and their businesses. There is every possibility that vested interests could exploit the situation. The government must move to immediately notify the excluded dunes so that there is no “manipulation” during the interim period.
The announcement made by Cabral that the government will begin work on the 2019 coastal plan in right earnest and his confidence in completing it within a year sounds hollow though, because the government cannot start work on a new plan unless it finalises and notifies the 2011 plan. We are not done on this one yet. The incorporation of dunes and demarcation of fishing wards and villages is going to take a lot of time and effort. Coastal plans are crucial to Goa and its people, involve a lot of village sentiment, and cannot be hurried through. History tells us, and if the coastal plan 2011 hearings are anything to go by, it paints a grim picture that shows how the government tried to bulldoze its way and silence voices. Let the process for a new plan be a people-inclusive and consultative one where the ordinary citizen is heard. There is no point in showing an unnecessary hurry with timelines at this stage.
