Coastal plan tweaks permit fishermen to run tourism business in Goa

PANAJI: Goa has tweaked its coastal plan to allow traditional fishermen to carry out commercial and tourism activities in Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) areas.The state government will also ease the no-development zone (NDZ) in many CRZ areas from 200 metres to just 50 metres from the high tide line on the landward side, and will relax reconstruction norms in regions regulated by CRZ rules. These developments come after the Centre wrote to the state government informing it that a number of representations had been received requesting for changes to the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP), 2011.While fishermen could earlier construct or reconstruct their dwelling units that lay in CRZ-III areas only if these fell “within the ambit of traditional and customary uses”, the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) has now said that the phrase should be restructured to include “other commercial activities are also permissible in these areas”.The change has been sent to the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) for incorporation into the state’s CZMP, 2011.Previously, another clause stated that local communities, including fishermen, were permitted to facilitate tourism through “home stays” without changing the plinth area, design or facade of the existing houses.“‘Home stays’ may be substituted with ‘activities’ so that the local community can carry out any tourism activity within their dwelling units that should not be restricted to only ‘home stays’,” the GCZMA has conveyed in its amendment.The CZMP now states that “operation of fishing or any other marine vessel in CRZ-IV shall not require any permission”, because “fishing activities are permissible and operations of vessels are being regulated by the shipping authorities concerned as well as the local fisheries department”.The phrase, ‘fish-breeding areas’, is also being deleted from the CZMP as the fisheries department and Indian Council for Agriculture Research have both communicated that no such details or studies on fish breeding areas in Goa are available with them. “In the absence of scientific studies and information, it will not be possible to demarcate such areas on the CZMP,” the GCZMA has stated.In another significant change, the NDZ has been reduced from 200 metres to 50 metres in many more areas. Earlier, only areas having a population density of more than 2,161 per sqkm were designated as CRZ-III A, allowing an NDZ of just 50 metres from the high tide line on the landward side. Those not falling within this classification had an NDZ of 200 metres.The GCZMA has decided that this criteria appears to be arbitrary and has decided to use census data as the basis instead, to classify CRZ-III A locations. Now, all areas classified as ‘urban’ in the census will be designated as CRZ-III A, allowing the NDZ to be restricted to only 50 metres from the high tide line in these regions.Also, if a home owner wants to reconstruct an already existing, authorised house in the CRZ with some changes, he/she need not approach the Union environment ministry or the NCZMA for permission.“The CRZ-II areas are already developed and within the municipal limits, and with the passage of time, the necessary changes in the floor space index (FSI) and land use are affected by the local town planning authorities based on the local requirements. The requirement to approach the NCZMA for a change in FSI may also be omitted and the change may be permitted with the approval of the local state coastal zone management authority,” the amendment to the CZMP states.Panaji: Goa has amended its coastal plan to allow traditional fishermen to carry out various commercial and tourism activities within Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) areas. The state government will also ease the no-development zone (NDZ) in many CRZ areas from 200 metres to just 50 metres from the high tide line on the landward side, and will relax reconstruction norms in regions regulated by CRZ rules. While fishermen could earlier construct or reconstruct their dwelling units that lay in CRZ-III areas only if these fell “within the ambit of traditional and customary uses”, the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) has now said that the phrase should be restructured to include “other commercial activities are also permissible in these areas”.The change has been sent to the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) for incorporation into the state’s Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP), 2011.Previously, another clause stated that local communities, including fishermen, were permitted to facilitate tourism through “home stays” without changing the plinth area, design or facade of the existing houses.“‘Home stays’ may be substituted with ‘activities’ so that the local community can carry out any tourism activity within their dwelling units that should not be restricted to only ‘home stays’,” the GCZMA has conveyed in its amendment.The CZMP now states that “operation of fishing or any other marine vessel in CRZ-IV shall not require any permission”, because “fishing activities are permissible and operations of vessels are being regulated by the shipping authorities concerned as well as the local fisheries department”.The phrase, ‘fish-breeding areas’, is also being deleted from the CZMP as the fisheries department and Indian Council for Agriculture Research have both communicated that no such details or studies on fish breeding areas in Goa are available with them. “In the absence of scientific studies and information, it will not be possible to demarcate such areas on the CZMP,” the GCZMA has stated.In another significant change, the NDZ has been reduced from 200 metres to 50 metres in many more areas. Earlier, only areas having a population density of more than 2,161 per sqkm were designated as CRZ-III A, allowing an NDZ of just 50 metres from the high tide line on the landward side. Those not falling within this classification had an NDZ of 200 metres. The GCZMA has decided that this criteria appears to be arbitrary and has decided to use census data as the basis instead, to classify CRZ-III A locations. Now, all areas classified as ‘urban’ in the census will be designated as CRZ-III A, allowing the NDZ to be restricted to only 50 metres from the high tide line in these regions.Also, if a home owner wants to reconstruct an already existing, authorised house in the CRZ with some changes, he/she need not approach the Union environment ministry or the NCZMA for permission.“The CRZ-II areas are already developed and within the municipal limits, and with the passage of time, the necessary changes in the floor space index (FSI) and land use are affected by the local town planning authorities based on the local requirements. The requirement to approach the NCZMA for a change in FSI may also be omitted and the change may be permitted with the approval of the local state coastal zone management authority,” the amendment to the CZMP states.x-x-x-x-x-xOTHER AMENDMENTS* Sand dunes have been defined for the first time as ‘sand dunes having vegetation with height of over 2 metres from the beach profile during the highest high tide line’* No-development zone (NDZ) relaxed for headlands. It will be up to a height of only 10 metres of the headlands, from the earlier 50-200 metres* All areas classified as ‘urban’ in the census will be designated as CRZ-III A areas, allowing the NDZ to be restricted to only 50 metres from the high tide line* GCZMA to approve permissions to reconstruct existing, authorised houses in CRZ areas. Approval of the Union environment ministry and NCZMA will not be required