TN govt to first hear fishers’ opinion on revised coastal management plan

CHENNAI: With the submission of the revised final draft of the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) 2019 by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCCR), the state environment department has decided to conduct pre-consultation meetings with representatives from various fishermen associations across all the coastal districts before conducting public hearing meetings.

The NCCR revised the CZMP on behalf of the Tamil Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority (TNSCZMA) following opposition from the fisherfolks, who alleged that the draft plan released in 2022 had excluded several salt pans, water bodies, backwaters, and other ecologically sensitive areas.

As per the sources, NCCR submitted the revised final draft to the Authority during a recent meeting in which, Supriya Sahu, secretary of environment, climate change and forest department, who is also the chairperson of TNSCZMA, requested the fisheries department to arrange a pre-consultation meeting with representatives from various fishermen associations across all coastal districts to discuss the draft CZMP.

Soon after the draft CZMP was released in 2022, separate cases were filed with the Southern Bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) requesting the Tribunal to direct the Authority to use CZMP 1996, instead of CZMP 1997, as base map for the preparation of CZMP 2019, that resulted in the exclusion of salt pans, backwaters and others.

It may be noted that the NGT had ordered the government, in February 2021, to prepare the CZMP 2019 using CZMP 1996 as a base map, which the Authority had allegedly failed to do.

One of the petitions said that the drafts are incomplete as portions of the water body itself are not mentioned. “It is not about some errors that need correction. There are fundamental and fatal lapses in failing to prepare the CZMP with the correct baseline map, namely the Government of India-approved 1996 CZMP. The draft maps must be complete in all respects while being published. The 1997 CZMP had excluded the entire Kosasthalaiyar River,” the petition highlighted.

Fishers' organisations have also opposed the draft land use map, pointing out that the maps do not include demarcations for fishermen's habitations and space for fishing activities.

Hearing the cases, the NGT ordered the TNSCZMA to conduct ground truthing of the ecologically sensitive areas wherever required and wherever it is specifically brought to the notice of the authorities and as directed in the orders of the High Court as well as the NGT.

The TNCZMA was directed to collect all the inputs received from the District Collectors and appropriately correct, add, and modify the draft CZMP before releasing the draft and conducting public hearing meetings.