PANAJI
In a bid to notify the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) 2011 under the 1:4,000 scale -- a crucial step ahead of drafting a new plan based on CRZ notification 2019 -- the Goa government has initiated process to configure these local maps at 1:4,000 scale with the official Revenue Maps, as prepared by the department of settlement and land records (DSLR).
Close to 250 maps, prepared under the 1:4,000 scale, have been taken up for alignment with State survey plans, after the majority of them were found to be inaccurate or laden with discrepancies. These maps were received in PDF format from the Chennai based National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) in October, 2023.
The CZMP 2011 for Goa had received the Centre’s approval and was notified on September 6, 2022, giving the State its first such comprehensive plan. However, only the plan based on 1:25,000 scale is been implemented, while 1:4,000 scale plan is yet to be notified.
Highly placed sources confirmed to The Goan that until the CZMP 2011 is notified under the 1:4,000 scale, it cannot be provided to the National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS) to prepare the CZMP 2019.
Sources said that the maps submitted by NCZMA diverge from the officially notified survey plans of the state, grounded in the Goa Land Revenue Code of 1968. “There are multiple errors including overlapping and voids at village boundaries, improper delineation of key features such as high tide line (HTL), low tide line (LTL), ecologically sensitive areas, coastal regulation zone (CRZ), and erroneous inclusion of khazans, mangroves, and waterbodies,” sources said.
“If there is mismatch, there will be issue in implementing CZMP 2011 based on 1:4,000 scale,” sources said.
“Once we super impose these maps, CZMP 2011 on 1:4,000 scale would be notified and implemented. Once notified, people will be able to identify their villages and other structures,” sources said.
Sources said that until the CZMP 2011 is notified under the 1:4,000 scale, it cannot be provided to the National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS) to prepare the CZMP 2019.
According to the information, the NCESS has sought the shapefiles of bridge, harbour, port, ferry, survey plots, municipal and panchayat boundaries with names, tenurial status of mangroves for removing the mangrove buffer from private land, list of islands, land use shapefiles of the approved CZMP 2011.
It can be noted that the NCSCM earlier prepared the CZMP 2011 coastal map on the 1:25,000 scale, but following several complaints from citizens stating that structures and villages were not clearly visible on this scale of the map, the state asked the NCSCM to prepare it on the 1:4,000 scale
