PANAJI
As Goa leads, among all States, with highest number of coastal zone regulations “ 974 -- in the past five years, the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) has directed the State to implement a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based system to monitor the changing landscape on the coastline and track irregular developments.
Out of the 1,878 CRZ violations reported across the country in the past five years, 974 CRZ violations were found in Goa alone, the NCZMA noted during its meeting held last month.
The Authority directed that Expert cells, which are well-versed in GIS tools, should be created in District Level Committee’s (DLC), both North and South, to “effectively and efficiently monitor the changing landscape on the coastline and track irregular developments”.
“Presence of such a surveillance mechanism would not only track irregular activities but would also serve as a deterrence tool,” the central coastal body stated.
Goa was followed by Maharashtra with 556 violations, 101 in Karnataka and 84 in Tamil Nadu, among other coastal States.
The NCZMA said that the State Coastal Zone Management Authority (Goa) being primarily responsible for enforcement of provisions of CRZ notification, should take prompt action on issues related to CRZ violations as per powers delegated under EPA 1986.
The Authority has directed all the coastal States and Union Territories to take strict action on violation and submit a quarterly report to the Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
The Ministry will also convey a meeting with the State Chief Secretaries to review the status of action taken by the States on such violation cases.
Coastal zones are defined as an interface between land and the sea that comprises coastal land, intertidal area, and coastal ecosystems including rivers, estuaries, marshes, wetlands and beaches. The CRZ notification classifies coastal areas into different zones to manage developmental activities in an integrated manner.
