The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had set December 31, 2021, as the final extended deadline for Goa to complete its coastal zone management plan (CZMP). Two months after this deadline has expired, the finalisation of Goa’s CZMP is set to be delayed even further. The National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) has turned down the state’s request seeking some relaxations for Goa, and has also suggested some alternative changes to the coastal plan. Goa will now require further time to incorporate these changes in the CZMP.
The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), for instance, had asked that port limits should not be depicted on the state’s coastal plan. Instead of non-depiction, the national authority has now asked Goa to show major and minor ports in two different colours. Goa had also asked that only important structures like sites of archaeological importance in and around CRZ areas be marked on the CZMP.
The secretary for the Union environment ministry told GCZMA to put up in writing which structures are to be shown and which are to be deleted from the CZMP. Goa has been advised to submit this data by March 15, 2022, to the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM).
Earlier, the Goa authority had decided not to depict any port limits on the state CZMP after protests from several citizens’ groups. The port limits of all major and minor ports were depicted in a single colour on the plan, which led to citizens alleging that the Mormugao Port Trust limits are being extended to interior villages of Goa.
“The secretary, ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MOEF&CC) stated that the request for non-depiction of port limit on CZMP cannot be agreed upon. However, the major and minor ports can be depicted in different colour on the CZMP for identification,” Goa was told at the meeting held on February 22 under the chairmanship of IAS officer Arun Kumar Mishra. The GCZMA officials told the national authority that it had decided to seek the relaxation as port limits have not been depicted in the case of the states of Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu on CZMP 2011.
“Both major and minor ports are depicted in a single colour, creating confusion in the mind of the general public, that all the areas depicted within the port limit are that of the major port. The area notified as major and minor ports is extensive in comparison to the total area of the state,” the GCZMA told the national authority. Also, the depiction of port limits is not a statutory requirement as per CRZ Notification 2011, the GCZMA said.
About marking of all structures on the coastal plan, the GCZMA said that Goa’s revenue maps only depict structures up to 1974 and there is no record of structures between 1974 and 1991. It was felt that this would create a disparity and therefore it was decided to not depict all and any structures on the CZMP. Now, as per the suggestion of the national authority, the GCZMA will be providing details to the NCSCM of only authorized structures on the seaward or river side to be depicted on the coastal plan. These structures will include sites of archeological importance, lighthouses, ramps, fishing jetties.