Coastal zone panel to be ‘pro-active’

The Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority plans to take suo motu action on instances of violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone Act in the State.Though the powers for initiating suo motu action were accorded to the Authority at the time of its constitution, it was not used much. The new committee plans to invoke this power, said E.P. Yasodharan, chairman of the committee.The committee plans to adopt a pro-active role regarding the implementation of the Act. Members have been asked to present their views on the course of action that needs to be adopted, he said. The first meeting of the reconstituted committee was held at Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. The Authority plans to organise awareness programme for civic bodies regarding the Act next month. The previous Authority had formed a sub committee headed by N.R. Menon, Director of the Centre for Integrated Management for Coastal Zones of the Cochin University of Science and Technology, for considering a request for reclassifying the coastal panchayats of the State. The committee is compiling information required for reclassifying coastal panchayats from Coastal Regulation Zone 3 to Zone 2, according to an Authority member.As per the CRZ regulations, most of the panchayats of the State come under Zone 3 where no development activities are permitted towards the landward side of 200 metres from the High Tide Line. Regarding backwaters, the No Development Zone is 100 metres.The law is more liberal when it comes to Zone 2 regarding development activities. Construction is permitted towards landward side from an existing road or authorised building constructed prior to 1991, he said.Another sub-committee headed by B. Madhusoodana Kurup of the School of Industrial Fisheries of the Cochin University of Science and Technology had recommended that the No Development Zone of 300 metres should be reduced to 200 metres to let fishermen set up dwelling units. The Committee made the recommendation considering the fact that over 15,000 fishermen families had neither houses nor land to build houses. For backwaters, it was recommended that the area between 50 and 100 metres from the High Tide Line be opened up for fishermen, it suggested.

The Hindu, 17^th October 2008