CHENNAI: The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal has directed the Tamil Nadu Coastal Zone Management Authority to conduct ground truthing before revising the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) maps.

In its ruling on Thursday, the bench comprising judicial member Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana and expert member Satyagopal Korlapati ordered the Tamil Nadu Coastal Zone Management Authority (TNCZMA) and the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) to verify ecologically sensitive areas through ground truthing when necessary, or when brought to the authorities' attention.

Following ground truthing, "the TNCZMA is instructed to gather all inputs received from the collectors of coastal districts and forward them to the Member Secretary – TNCZMA and the Director of Environment and Climate Change, Chennai, for appropriate corrections, additions, and modifications in the draft CZMP,” the order read.

The authorities were also directed to incorporate feedback and corrections from stakeholders into the draft CZMP before its publication. A public hearing may be conducted after allowing time for stakeholders to review the revised maps.

Members of the fishermen community had challenged the draft CZMP maps released earlier, terming them "incomplete" and "erratic". They had pointed out that ecologically sensitive areas such as sand dunes, turtle nesting grounds, seagrass beds, sanctuaries, and reserve forests were missing from the draft maps.

Ground truthing helps verify facts in official documents and maps with the actual ground conditions. It can also aid in collecting proof of harmful operations at a location, and monitor impacts.