Public hearing on Coastal Zone Management Plan next week

The draft plan assumes significance in the wake of the recent revelations on the massive encroachment and illegal reclamation along the coastal stretch of the city and Maradu.

September 22, 2014 09:43 am | Updated 09:43 am IST - KOCHI

The draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) for Kochi Corporation area and Maradu municipalities will be put out for public hearing next week.

The Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority has initiated the series of public hearings with a one-day session at Kollam on Thursday. The draft plans were prepared according to the guidelines laid down by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, said a scientist of the National Centre for Earth Sciences Studies.

The draft plan assumes significance in the wake of the recent revelations on the massive encroachment and illegal reclamation along the coastal stretch of the city and Maradu. The Comptroller and Auditor General too had released the list of CRZ violations carried out by builders and individuals along the banks of Chilavannoor Lake and nearby areas.

The Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority had earlier published the draft notification. The draft notification can be accessed at the ‘reports and manuals’ section of the website of the Kerala government. The general public can submit their views on the draft plans for Kochi and Maradu at the session to be held on September 24 at Ernakulam District Collectorate.

The plan The draft plan features all the zones of the coastal belt as prescribed by the central legislation. The specialities of each zone, including the inter-tidal zone and mangroves, have all been marked in the draft plan. The No Development Zones of each region have also been marked. The 100-metre set back line from the high tide level was also plotted on the plan.

The present plan is made in 1: 25,000 scale and it would be converted to 1: 4,000 scale for achieving more visual clarity. The plan was made using the topographic sheet of the Survey of India. The plan was prepared in the GIS platform for easy access. The general public can verify the status of each region by accessing the website, he said.

The permissible activities in each region were not specifically marked on the plan document as they were detailed in the Coastal Regulation Zone notification, a scientist said. The centre had earlier drawn up a list of plots along the coastal belt where land modifications were carried out with the support of satellite imageries and the local bodies concerned were asked to physically verify each modification for ascertaining its legality.

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