Plan to amend coastal regulation irks activists

Activists are irked by the move to open sensitive areas under CRZ-1 — which requires the most protection under the rules — for strategic, defence and projects of national importance, though definitions have not been laid out. 

Pooja Kumar, a researcher at Coastal Resource Centre pointed out that this discrepancy could further lead to unregulated development in sensitive areas causing ecological degradation. 

“The lack of clarity about what makes a project strategic could mean that mega corporations can enjoy impunity while setting up destructive development on India’s coastline,” she added. 

The city’s fisherfolk community has also opposed these amendments, citing that these are counterproductive to the protection of sensitive coastal areas and demanded that these changes be withdrawn. However, an amendment on July 2 to the CRZ Notifications, 2011, removes all administrative powers given to the ‘hazard line’ within CRZ framework. 

“The hazard line is the point till which the areas will be affected in case of a cyclone or a storm surge and hightide line (HTL) is the highest point the tide will enter. In the CRZ Notifications, the space between the HTL and hazard line will be protected from development. But according to the new amendment, the protected areas are only till the HTL and not the space from that point till the hazard line. Beyond the HTL, CRZ protection will not apply, making the projects coming up in these areas prone to hazards in case of natural disasters,” said Pooja.