Ambiguity in CRZ order exposes coastline to development threat

 The Union government has exposed the country's shores to rampant development by leaving ambiguous the definitions of the coastline's features. The fallout of this uncertainty has been confusion among states and renewed construction bids near shores.
   The Centre's 2011 Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, which defines the scope of coastal conservation, stipulates different treatment for the country's bays and seafront. At seafronts, it prohibits construction at least up to 500 metres from the high tide line. At bays, it extends protection landward up to 100 metres or for the bay's width-—whichever is less.
   All importantly, the 2011 notification does not define the lesser-protected bays.
   In a letter to the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) earlier this year, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) sought the definition of what constitutes a bay. The issue is critical, say experts, since geomorphologically large parts of the coast of Maharashtra, Goa and north Karnataka are bays. The country's eastern coast, of course, sits by a bay—the Bay of Bengal. The 2011 notification reduces the effective protection on all these areas to a mere 100 metres, said officials.
   The Maharashtra coastal authority believes the notification leaves the state particularly badly placed since "most of the state's coastal area is either on bays or creeks". Valsa Nair-Singh, secretary (environment), said the central environment ministry has so far not clarified the issue of bays in response to the state's letter.
   Officials said the 1991 CRZ notification stipulated 500m CRZ area both for bays and seafront. Going by this specification, Maharashtra's Coastal Zone Management Plan was approved by the central environment ministry in 2000. But the 2011 notification disrupted the arrangement.
   The urgency to define a bay occurred after the Bombay high court directed MCZMA to take a decision on the M N Koli CHS slum rehabilitation project at Mahim Bay. The scheme was submitted in 1984-85 and approved in 1990 as per the Development Control Regulations of 1967. Construction started immediately thereafter. But once the 1991 CRZ notification came into force, the proposal got stalled, first because the land got tagged CRZ-I and then CRZ-II.
   As per the 2000 coastal zone management plan, in front of the slum plot is Mahim Bay and on one side the creek. The distance of the slum plot from the bay as well as the creek is more than 200 metres, said government officials, citing Google Maps and the coastal zone plan.
   After the 2011 CRZ notification was issued, the slum plot's developer filed a petition claiming the water body at Mahim is a bay and not the sea. He asked that a 100m CRZ line be demarcated as per the new notification. Further, he argued that since the plot falls beyond the 100m line, it is out of the CRZ purview.
   Officials said a bay is indistinguishable from seafront in most areas. "The distinction was not of much relevance earlier since the CRZ distance for seafront as well as recesses, such as bay, estuaries, creeks, was 500 metres," said an official.
   G D Chiplunkar, an expert on CRZ, said it is imperative for the central environment ministry to clearly define seafront and bay. The difference in protections for the two, he said, is based on the difference in threats to them from tidal and wave energy.
   "CRZ of 500 metres should be prescribed for open sea, where waves and tide can inundate larger areas; this is why more buffer is required. At creeks and inland waters, the wave effects are less since these areas are not exposed directly to the sea; thus 100m buffers are sufficient," he explained.
   However, at Mahim Chowpatty, as also for the Bay of Bengal, the 500m buffer zone should apply since they face the sea, said Chiplunkar.

SEA OF TROUBLES


The state has asked the Centre to clarify on the distinction between seafront and bay. The ambiguity on this in a CRZ notification has led to the imperilment of large parts of the coast of Maharashtra, Goa and north Karnataka as well as the country's eastern coast SAVING THE COASTS | THE COUNTRY'S BAYS AND SEAFRONTS ARE NO LONGER GIVEN THE SAME LEVEL OF PROTECTION GENERAL DESCRIPTION

BAY |

Loosely defined as a body of water partly enclosed by land. Generally, a bay has calmer waters than the surrounding sea and is a good place for ships to take shelter. When large and deep enough, bays become natural harbours In the 1991 Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, CRZ areas were classified as CRZ-I (ecologically sensitive), CRZII (built-up area), CRZ-III (rural area) and CRZ-IV (water area)
The '91 notification stipulated 500m CRZ area for bays and seafront
The 2011 CRZ notification retained the same classification as the 1991 announcement, but added class CRZIV, which includes water areas up to the territorial waters and tidalinfluenced water bodies
   A separate draft Island Protection Zone Notification was issued for protection of the islands of Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
   The 2011 notification prohibits construction at seafront at least up to 500m from the high tide line. At bays, it extends protection landward up till 100m or for the bay's width—whichever is less

BAY OF BENGAL

The 2011 CRZ notification puts under cloud of development the country's eastern coastline, which sits along the Bay of Bengal:
   The largest bay in the world, it forms the north-eastern part of the Indian Ocean
   Roughly triangular in shape and occupying an area of 2.17 million sq km, it is bordered by India and Sri Lanka to the west, Bangladesh to the north, and Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the east
   A number of large rivers—Ganga and its distributaries such as Padma and Hooghly, the Brahmaputra and its distributaries such as Jamuna and Meghna—and other rivers such as Irrawaddy, Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna and Kaveri flow into the bay
   Among important ports along it are Chennai, Tuticorin, Paradip, Kolkata and Yangon

POPULAR PLACES ALONG BAY OF BENGAL    

INDIA | Marina Beach (Chennai, Tamil Nadu) | Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) | Puri (Odisha) | Digha (East Midnapore district, West Bengal) | Suryalanka (Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh) | Chandipur (Baleswar district, Odisha) | Mandarmani (East Midnapore district, West Bengal) | Bakkhali (South 24 Parganas, West Bengal) SRI LANKA | Arugam
   BANGLADESH | Cox's Bazar | Kuakata | St Martin's Island MYANMAR | Ngapali

BAYS WORLDWIDE


PHANG NGA BAY
In the Andaman Sea close to the Thai island of Phuket, it has beautiful caves, aquatic grottoes and limestone islands, some of which are 984ft high BAY OF FUNDY | On the Atlantic coast of Canada, it is famous for high tidal range. Because of its unique shape, the difference in water level between high and low tides can be as much as 52ft
SAN FRANCISCO BAY
Located on the Californian coast, it has many islands, including Alcatraz which served as a prison until 1963. The area around it is the American West's secondlargest urban area PARADISE BAY | One of Antarctica's most visited areas, it is one of only two places where cruise ships can stop on the continent. The bay is surrounded by ice cliffs and glaciated mountains
VICTORIA HARBOUR | Among the world's deepest container ports and a major tourist attraction in Hong Kong. Its strategic location was instrumental in the city's establishment

PROTECTION OF COASTS


AUSTRALIA | A national framework looks at land and marine-based sources of pollution as well as climate change SOUTH AFRICA | The Integrated Coastal Management Act provides procedures for demarcating and adjusting the boundaries of coastal protection zone, coastal access land and entry onto such land
UNITED STATES | The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration works with federal, state and local partners to address a variety of coastal issues SRI LANKA | Its coastal zone plan involves communities. A permit system manages development within 300m coastal zone CALIFORNIA | Coastal policies are achieved through local programmes that have to be completed by the 15 counties and 61 cities in the coastal zone

Times View: Clear the air at the earliest    

The Coastal Regulation Zone Notification is meant to protect India's vast coastline and ensure sustainable development along it. It was introduced to prevent mindless destruction. But an ambiguous notification can only cause more ecological damage. The MoEF, while issuing the notification, had asked various implementing agencies to bring any doubts or confusion to its notice. It is binding on the MoEF to clear the air at the earliest rather than leave room for interpretations and misuse.