To protect the data received as objections and suggestions from hundreds of citizens on the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP), the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority has decided to digitise the information and keep it under lock and key and CCTV surveillance. “The authority decided that all the objections/suggestions and reports to be digitised and digitally locked and kept in proper custody in consultation with the IT department. Further, all digital copies be kept in safe custody under CCTV cameras with double lock system under proper charge of a responsible officer,” the GCZMA decided at its meeting held on December 10. The formulation of the CZMP for Goa saw widespread protests from villagers across the state. Most villagers objecting to the draft CZMP had said that the inputs sent by their respective panchayats had not been incorporated in the draft plan. The first public hearing held to receive objections and suggestions from the public was also faced with protests. The hearing process itself was then challenged before the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
This led to a fresh hearing being ordered by the tribunal and held on July 7 this year, where objections and suggestions were taken from the public through the physical and the virtual mode as also in writing. These inputs will now be digitised and stored under CCTV surveillance. The NGT has set December 31, 2021, as the deadline for Goa to complete its CZMP. The GCZMA had allotted the work to different state departments of carrying out ground truthing and verification of the various objections and suggestions received from the public. The inputs have already been sent to the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai, which is incorporating the inputs into Goa’s CZMP. “One of the comments of the fisheries department is that there are no reports/scientific studies in respect of fish breeding areas hence the authority recommends the NCSCM that such areas depicted as fish breeding areas in the draft CZMP may be depicted as fishing zones. This may be incorporated in the final draft CZMP,” the GCZMA has decided. Data on demarcation of mangroves, khazan lands and sand dunes has also been submitted to the NCSCM.
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