State coastal zone authority lacks teeth, says its chairman

KOCHI: The Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority (KSCMA) has been unsuccessful in curbing the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) violations as it lacks the implementation mechanism, said C.T.S. Nair, chairman of the Authority. Hence it could not adopt a pro-active stand towards CRZ issues in the State.

Talking to The Hindu, Dr. Nair, who is also executive vice-president of the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment, said the activities of the Kerala authority were mostly confined to “acting on requests for (CRZ) clearances” on applications that came before it.

Dr. Nair had recently submitted a report to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on Coastal Regulation Zone violations and destruction of mangrove at Mangrove Park,Pappinissery, Kannur, following instructions of the ministry.

“What has come out is just the tip of the iceberg. Many violations that are taking place in many other areas even go unreported,” Mr. Nair said.

The authority could not do follow-up in cases where permissions for constructions were issued.
The agency also lacked the mechanism to check the violations. Under the present system, it is through the District Collectors that the authority seeks the implementation of its orders. If they too fail, the authority is left with no option to implement its decisions, he said.Most often, the real culprits in instances of CRZ violation were government agencies, he said.

Mangroves were destroyed for the LNG terminal and the proposed oceanarium projects at Puthu Vypeen, Kochi.

The local bodies, which were bound to check the CRZ guidelines while issuing building permits, were ignoring the aspect, he said.

Meanwhile, some of the authority members pointed out that the construction of a luxury hotel was progressing at Maradu despite the stop memo issued by the authority.In another case, a huge apartment complex was being constructed on the banks of the Kochi backwaters and that too by reclaiming the water body.

This case did not even come up before the authority for the mandatory clearance, a member said.

Mr. Nair said that the Authority was looking into some instances of violations in the State. He hoped that the proposed CRZ legislation by the MoEF would give more teeth to the authority to act.

Source: The Hindu,16-8-2010