Subject: Goa govt. to challenge coastal zone plan


>From the India News Network:

Vivek
vtiwari@scdt.intel.com
Santa Clara, CA
-----------------
#3  Goa govt. to challenge coastal zone plan

                            By ARMENIA FERNANDES
                              DH News Service

   The Goa Government has decided to contest in the Supreme Court, the
   classification of the State`s coastal zone approved by the Central
   Ministry of Environment in the State Coastal Zone Management Plan
   (CZMP) last September. Environment activists, on the other hand, are
   equally determined to see that the plan is fully adhered to.

   The Minister for Environment, Dr Wilfred Mesquita, told Deccan Herald
   that the Government would not accept the changes the Union Ministry
   had brought about in the draft plan that Goa had submitted for
   clearance, since the size of the State was small and intense
   development has already taken place in most coastal villages.

   The approved plan stipualtes that along all of Goa`s rivers, namely
   the Tiracol, Chapora, Mandovi, Zuari, Sal, Talpona, Creeks and the
   backwaters influenced by tidal action, the extent of the Coastal
   Regulation Zone (CRZ) will be 100-metres or the width of the water
   body, whichever is less.

   Most of these rivers are lined with lush mangrove plantations, the
   areas of which, along with sand dunes on all beaches, have been
   classified as CRZ I, where no new construction is permitted within 500
   metres of the high-tide line (HTL).

   This restriction is to the detriment of several hotel projects cleared
   by the Government in recent years, particularly in the tourist
   dominated coastal villages. Six applications for tourist beach resorts
   are pending before the Government as of now.

   Dr Msequita maintained that a uniform CRZ could not be imposed all
   along the river banks, but called for a graded classification
   proportionate to the distance of the river bank from its mouth.

   The State is insisting on a 50-metre CRZ along the numerous rivers.
   With growing pressure on land, a 100-metre no-development zone on
   either side of the densely-populated river banks will only reduce
   already scarce land, Dr Mesquita pointed out.

   Similarly, the Government is seeking a change in the classification
   for the Calangute-Candolim coastal belt in north Goa from CRZ III
   (where no development can take place up to 200 metres from the
   high-tide line) to CRZ II (where buildings are permitted on the
   landward side of existing roads and structures).

   These villages may not be within municipal limits but they are
   over-developed and cannot be termed as either 'relatively undisturbed`
   or 'rural areas` which would make them eligible for a CRZ III grading,
   Dr Mesquita observed.

   Goa`s environment activists, however, have no intention of letting the
   Government go ahead with these changes. The Secretary of the GDA
   Foundation, Dr Claude Alvares, stated that seizing on a loophole in
   the CRZ notification, the State Government had cleared nearly 80
   residential complexes for tourism, within the 200-metre no-development
   zone in Calangute, Candolim, Baga, Benaulim and Velsao villages.

   The notification allows for natural expansion of existing villages
   within CRZ III but with these huge holiday complexes coming up, some
   of the villages have already exhausted their quota for new
   habitations, thus depriving villagers of the opportunity for future
   additions, Dr Alvares pointed out.

   Starred hotels are also proposed to be built on the beaches of Morjim
   Mandrem Nagorcem and Palolem which are categorised as CRZ I, where in
   no construction can be put up within 500 metres of the HTL, he said.
   Recently, the Goa Foundation secured a stay from the Mumbai High Court
   on the 55 Condominium project of Piva Privilege Resorts, which stands
   within the 200-metre no-development zone at Baga.

   Releasing copies of the Coastal Zone Management plan for Goa, Dr
   Alvares said the Foundation would oppose projects coming up in
   contravention of the CZMP. Over the years, work on several beach
   resorts has been stalled through the Foundation`s intervention, for
   violating Government norms.

   Countering the Government`s justification for amending the CZMP, Dr
   Alvares accused it of promoting developers at the cost of the State`s
   ecology. For instance, the Goa State Committee for Coastal Environment
   has no representation from environment organisations but consists of
   hotel promoters and land developers. The no-development zones are
   essential for ground watertables and sand dunes have to be protected,
   Dr Alvares insisted.