The state government has decided to write to the Union environment ministry and the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) informing them that Goa has a peculiar situation where fishermen are not isolated in ‘fishermen only’ villages. As such, the state has decided to seek permission for developmental activities to be allowed in such coastal areas where fishermen reside in Goa as per the relaxation provided to fishermen villages in CRZ 2011 notification. “The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) decided to write to the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and NCZMA that in view of the peculiar circumstances prevailing in Goa, where the location of the fishermen houses are not isolated in single wards or villages, other developmental activities permissible under CRZ Notification 2011 may be permitted in areas demarcated as fishing wards/villages the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP),” GCZMA has said in a decision, after discussing the issues raised by citizens pertaining to the draft CZMP for Goa. This relaxation to fishermen should reflect in the final notification of the CZMP, for which GCZMA will inform MoEF&CC and NCZMA.
In the guidelines provided to states for preparation of the CZMP, in the CRZ areas, in the fishing villages, ‘common properties of the fishermen communities, fishing jetties, ice plants, fish drying platforms or area’s infrastructure facilities of fishing and local communities such as dispensaries, roads, schools, and the like shall be indicated on the cadastral scale map.’ States have also been told that in their CZMP detailed plans have to be made taking into consideration the long term expansion of these fishing villages like housing needs, facilities for sanitation, safety and disaster preparedness. “No developmental activities other than those listed shall be permitted in the areas between the hazard line and 500ms and 100ms of width of the creek on the landward side. The dwelling units of the local communities will not be relocated if the dwelling units are located on the seaward side of the hazard line,” the norms for CZMP preparation for fishing villages state. The Goa government has now sought these same relaxations for the state’s fishermen community, who are residing along the coast, even though they may not be isolated into specific fishing villages. As per the CZMP norms, the state government has to necessarily provide safeguards to the dwelling units of such fishermen located along the coast from natural disasters.
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