Raising objections to the draft Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification 2018, fishermen community have unanimously sought its immediate withdrawal. They have also submitted a set of demands in their memorandum to the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) and parliamentary standing committee. Even after June 16, which was set as the last date to receive public comments and suggestions on the draft released on April 18 in the public domain, the fishers continue their nationwide protest demanding to scrap it. National Fish-workers Forum (NFF) general secretary T Peter said, The timing of the release of the draft only confirms the suspicion that it is a deliberate attempt to side-line the fishing community during this process. Further dilution of coastal protection norms won’t be easy if the fishers are involved. He also noted that the 60-day window to elicit public views was grossly inadequate and the draft was not available in local languages understood by the fishermen community. The content of the draft regulation is clearly a gross dilution of the existing CRZ 2011 notification, in terms of protecting the coastal eco-system and fishing community livelihoods, he said. Many senior scientists of Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) pointed out that the new notification lacked clarity. KSCSTE chief scientist Dr Kamalakshan Kokkal said certain sections of the draft CRZ notification were more stringent. For instance, in the draft notification, in CRZ-3A with a population density of above 2,161 persons per sqkm, construction will be permitted within 200m from high tide line (HTL). But it is not clear whether it is HTL from the sea. In villages with population density below 2,161 per sqkm, classified as CRZ-3B, no constructions are permitted in 50m from HTL, he said.