Question : AMENDMENT IN CRZ NOTIFICATION

(a) whether the Government has received any requests from States particularly from the State Government of Maharashtra regarding amendments to Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2011;

(b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise;

(c) the total number of amendments made to CRZ Notification, 1991;

(d) the main features of the CRZ Notification, 2011;

(e) whether the coastal communities are consulted by the Ministry in this regard; and

(f) if so, the details thereof and the process by which amendments to the Notification is made?

MINISTER OF THE STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS (SHRIMATI JAYANTHI NATARAJAN)

(a) and (b) Government of Maharashtra has sought amendment to the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2011 so as enable construction of Memorial for Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. On examination, National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) recommended the amendment. The recommendation of the NCZMA was accepted.

(c) 25 amendments have been made to CRZ Notification, 1991.

(d) The main features of the CRZ Notification, 2011 are inclusion of 12 nautical miles of sea water portion, hazard line concept for planning purposes, description of clear procedure for grant of clearances in the CRZ areas, provisions for monitoring, enforcement and transparency and special provisions for communities living in certain ecologically sensitive coastal stretches, islands in the backwaters of Kerala, local communities living along the coast of Goa, other traditional coastal inhabitants, slum dwellers, persons living in dilapidated and unsafe buildings in Mumbai, etc.

(e) and (f) The Ministry of Environment and Forests had issued the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification in 1991 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for protection and conservation of the coastal environment. A Committee under the chairmanship of Prof. M.S. Swaminathan was constituted in the year 2004 to review the CRZ Notification, 1991. The Committee submitted its report with various recommendations for strengthening the CRZ Notification, which inter-alia included protection and conservation of the coastal ecosystem, livelihood security of local communities, introduction of regulation to manage the proliferation of ports along the coasts, introduction of tighter standards for disposal of effluent into coastal waters, etc.

Ministry thereafter issued a draft Coastal Management Zone Notification in July 2008, inviting suggestions and objections from the public likely to be affected thereby. Large number of suggestions and objections on the draft notification were received which were examined by the Expert Committee set up under the Chairmanship of Prof. M. S. Swaminathan. The Expert Committee after detailed examination of the comments received on the draft Notification and consultations with the stakeholders, submitted the Report titled “Final Frontier” in July, 2009. The Report recommended to let the draft Coastal Management Zone Notification, 2008 lapse and to strengthen the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 1991. Based on the Report, a series of consultations with the local communities and NGOs in all the coastal States and UTs were held through the Center for Environmental Education (CEE) during the period August 2009 to March, 2010.

Based on the inputs received during the consultations and the recommendations of Prof. M.S Swaminathan Committee, the pre-draft CRZ Notification, 2010 was prepared and made available to the public in nine coastal languages, Gujarati, Marathi, Konkani, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Oriya, Bengali and also in Hindi and English in May, 2010. Comments on the pre-draft CRZ Notification, 2010 were received from public, NGOs etc., including Central and State Governments. A meeting was organized with the State Governments and Central Ministries on 6th July, 2010 to take their inputs on the pre-draft Notification.

Taking into account the outcome of the consultation process and the recommendations made in the report “Final Frontier”, comments received on pre-draft Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2010, draft CRZ Notification, 2010 for main land and Island Protection Zone Notification for Islands were notified on 15th September, 2010 for public opinion and suggestion.

Extensive consultations were held with various stakeholders, including the State Governments and fishermen community. The objections and suggestions received on the two draft Notifications were examined by the Central Government in the Ministry and finally the CRZ Notification, 2011 for the main land and Island Protection Zone (IPZ) Notification, 2011 for Lakshadweep as well as Andaman & Nicobar Islands were issued in January, 2011 in supersession of the CRZ Notification, 1991.