Coastal Management Zone draft will be allowed to lapse

Bringing relief to the fishing community which feared displacement,
the government on Friday announced that the draft Coastal Management
Zone (CMZ) Notification, 2008 would be allowed to lapse on July 22.
Instead, the existing Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification,
1991, will be amended to take into account the challenges likely to
arise from climate change-induced sea level rise, and the growing
pressure of population on coastal resources and biodiversity. This
follows the Ministry of Environment and Forests accepting the
recommendations of a four-member expert committee, chaired by
agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan, which reviewed the draft CMZ
notification. Prof. Swaminathan drafted the CMZ document in 2005 and
now recommended that it be abandoned as it had failed to address the
issues of fishermen. "The lives and livelihood of nearly 25 per cent
of our population living within 50 km of the shoreline, as well of the
nearly 10 million fisher-folk, will depend upon the decisions we take
now to develop enforceable regulations for integrated attention to
both ecological and livelihood security," Prof. Swaminathan told
journalists here after handing over the recommendations to Minister of
State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh. Setting out an agenda
for coastal areas, the committee, instituted last month, has also
recommended that the government check violations of the CRZ through
improved space technology-enabled enforcement, strengthened
institutions, and regulatory and legal reforms. It has suggested
introduction of regulations to manage the proliferation of ports along
the coasts with possible impacts on the coastline by considering the
cumulative impact of these developments and a moratorium on new ports.
Effluents disposal
Calling for tighter standards for disposal of effluents into coastal
water so that these waters do not become cheaper alternatives to
inland pollution management, the committee has suggested that issues
of development and redevelopment of Mumbai be resolved. "We have
decided to accept the report of the expert committee and will
introduce new management regimes on the Andaman and Nicobar as well as
Lakshadweep Islands as recommended," Mr. Ramesh said. The committee
wants the government to introduce any new protection regime — such as
for critically vulnerable coastal areas — after understanding the
impact of conservation policies on local communities, particularly
fisher families. "We are contemplating a law to ensure livelihood
security for the fishing community and are in the process of setting
up a National Coastal Zone Management Board and a National Institute
for Sustainable Coastal Zone Management based in Chennai," the
Minister said. Strengthening protection of mangroves, inclusion of a
seaward side to ensure protection from current and future threats and
enhancing research and regulatory capacity at all levels are some
other recommendations. The committee includes Sunita Narain of the
Centre for Science and Environment; Shailesh Nayak, Secretary,
Ministry of Earth Sciences; and J.M.Mauskar, Additional Secretary,
Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The Hindu, July 18