Hearings on CZM norms from Friday

 
Those who have expressed reservations about the draft Coastal Zone Management (CZM) norms, notified by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in May this year, would get an opportunity to present their case at public consultations on the norms to be held in different parts of the State beginning August 8.The first of the consultations, to be held in the State capital, will be inaugurated by Fisheries Minister S. Sarma, who has himself expressed serious reservations about the draft CZM norms. Similar consultations will be held under the aegis of the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) in Ernakulam and Kannur, possibly on August 12 and 18 respectively. The CEE has been entrusted with the task of holding public consultations on the draft norms in Kerala and Lakshadweep.The Union government had notified the draft CZM norms, which is to supersede the Coastal Regulation Zone Act of 1991, in May as a new framework for managing and regulating activities in the coastal and marine areas to conserve and protect the coastal resources and coastal environment, to ensure protection of coastal population and structures from risk of inundation due to natural hazards and safeguard and strengthen the livelihoods of coastal populations. The Ministry had called for opinions, comments, suggestions and objections from the public on the notification, the last date for which was July 7. However, in view of the volume of discussion on the subjects and discordant views expressed by different sections, the Ministry has extended the deadline for receipt of views and objections to August 31. The public hearings are intended to both create awareness about CMZ notification and to provide a platform for public opinion.The State government, it may be recalled, has already sought comprehensive changes in the draft CZM norms. It had submitted to the Centre a series of proposals aimed at ensuring that the CZM norms did not hit the livelihood of fishing communities or prevent them from constructing houses on the coastal stretches of the country. The State government had prepared its objections to various provisions of the draft norms after holding two rounds of consultation with trade unions in the fisheries sector, in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.The State has taken particular exception to the draft proposal to place the territorial waters up to 22 km. under the CZM norms and had told the Centre that this should not in any way affect fishing rights of indigenous communities. It had also told the Centre that the local bodies and the fishing community must have sufficient say in the planning and development processes along the coastal areas. Two other major counts on which the State has opposed the draft norms relate to the proposal to have a 'setback line' along the coast and to scrap the existing 'No Development Zones' on the coastal stretches. The first proposal, it is feared, would mean that the fisher folk would be able to have houses only outside the 'setback line' and the second, it is pointed out, would result in indiscriminate construction activity in the coastal areas leading to alienation of the fishing communities.

The Hindu, 4th August 2008