the goan I network
PANAJI
The much debated new Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, which cuts down ‘no development zone’ from 200 to 50 meters, has now become law with the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change publishing the delegated legislation in the Central Gazette on Friday last.
The notification exempts the islands of Lakshwadeep and Andamans from its purview and regulates development activities across the Indian coastlines besides along rivers, creeks and water bodies influenced by sea tides.
It has been slammed by environmentalists and fisher community organisations across the country but welcomed by industry bodies, especially the hospitality and real estate sector as it frees large tracts of seaside land for development which earlier was not possible under the 2011 CRZ notification.
In Goa, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had initially quelled swelling protests against the new draft CRZ notification from civil society and fishermen groups by assuring in the legislative assembly that it would not alter the status-quo in the State as under its population density criterion no coastal area here would qualify for its implementation.
The central government however said the new notification has been approved to promote “economic growth” while respecting principles of conservation in coastal areas.
Goa’s beach tourism industry has much to cheer as the new regulation permits temporary tourism facilities such as shacks, toilet blocks, changing rooms, drinking water facilities and the likes even on the beaches itself.
The argument that Goa’s coastal villages will not be affected with the new regulation under the population density criterion however is shrouded in ambiguity as the notification does not specify the reference area to calculate the habitation density - whether village, taluka, district or state. The notification also cuts down the no development zone for islands to 20 metres from the current 50 metres, another proviso of the new regulation that has come in for severe censure from the greens in Goa.
