Pokkali buffer zones likely to be redrawn

  A redrawing of the buffer zones of Pokkali fields is under the consideration of a subcommittee of the State Coastal Zone Management Authority. The aim is to explore the possibility of permitting construction of houses for fishermen in the land thus freed. At present, 50 metres from the landward side of the fields is treated as the buffer zone. The restriction should be lifted for providing houses for the fishermen, a subcommittee member said.On Pokkali fields, around 5,000 hectares near the backwaters in Ernakulam, Alappuzha and Thrissur districts, paddy- and prawn-farming is carried out in turns. The rice is cultivated in an organic way, the tidal flow nourishing the crop.The Coastal Zone Management Authority has submitted a few recommendations to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests with focus on housing needs of the fishermen communities. One of these is to reduce by half the no-development zone in Coastal Regulation Zone III areas (panchayats) to 100 metres landwards from the high-tide line. The reduction in the zone area will help to construct houses for fishermen, the member said.As many as 35,000 fishermen families in the State own neither land nor houses. There are 18,000 others who have land but no houses.The recommendations of the authority assume significance in the wake of reports that the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification will be modified with focus on housing issues and space for ancillary activities of fishermen, the member said.The Coastal Zone Management (CZM) notification, intended to replace the CRZ notification, on the basis of the recommendations of the M.S. Swaminathan committee, lapsed last week. It was feared that the new norms would deny a large number of fishermen their livelihood and dwelling areas.The member said CRZ notification had been found effective in protecting the coastal ecosystem and coastal resources and ensuring livelihood security of the coastal population. However, there was a pressing need for incorporating packages to meet housing needs.

 

 The Hindu, 27th July 2009