Sawant cites 2011 plan safeguards coastal homes
PANAJI
Several legislators on Friday made a strong case for notifying the State’s Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) 2019 and urged the government to speed up the process of preparing the plan.
Several legislators including some from the ruling side made the demand during their interventions in the discussion on the demands for grants related to the Environment Department.
The Lobo duo, Michael and Delilah, both argued that early notification of CZMP 2019 will give extra protection to homes and structures along the coast belonging to “traditional inhabitants’ such as fishermen, toddy tappers and several other people who have for generations fed on coastal specific livelihoods.
Some Opposition members including Leader of the Opposition, Yuri Alemao, Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas and St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar argued that the CZMP is paramount for better management of Goa’s fast degrading coastline affected by unprecedented development due to tourism-related economic activity.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who was standing in for Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira, assured that the department is working on the CZMP and reiterated that Goa’s CZMP 2011 which has already got approval from the Central Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has safeguards.
Sawant said the nod from the Centre to issue approvals to projects based on the 2011 plan has also come.
Goa’s Environment Department has entrusted the task of preparing a draft CZMP 2019 to the National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS) Thiruvananthapuram and was expected to be ready at the start of this year.
