The finalisation of the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) for Goa will be delayed, as the State government has sought an extension till October 31 to complete the plan and submit it to the Union Ministry for Environment and Forest (MoEF). The State, through Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), has moved an application before the National Green Tribunal (NGT), principal bench New Delhi, seeking the extension. NGT on May 28 will hear various applicants, including State’s like Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, that have sought extension. NGT, through a country wide order in November 2017, had set deadline of April 30, 2018 for all coastal States and Union Territories to submit CZMPs. MoEF was granted three months till July 30, to approve the plans.As an interim order, NGT had banned granting permissions for developmental projects in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) pending finalisation of the CZMP. The process to draft the CZMP for Goa had begun in February 2017, after its old plan of 1996 had expired in January 2017. The National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) has been entrusted with the task of preparing the plan. Sources revealed that the finalisation of the plan has been delayed due to various technical issues like digitisation of 8500 cadastral maps, superimposing the camera photos and the ground-truthing report, which is in process. This will be followed by public consultation. The plan has to be kept open for public suggestions for a period of one month. And post incorporating those suggestions, the final plan will be approved by GCZMA, State Government and MoEF, sources said. The government also wanted the water bodies in the CRZ areas and fish breeding areas to be clearly marked. The entire exercise will need another three-four months, sources revealed. The Chennai-based institution had submitted a new draft plan to the Goa government on May 9, 2017. The report will cover shoreline management, conservation management, pollution management, tourism and resource and livelihood management. It has also proposed to identify and notify fishing villages, wherein all foreshore facilities required for fishing and fisheries allied activities would be permitted by the Panchayats in the areas under CRZ.