Southern Bench of the NGT has directed to halt Chennai Shoreline Renourishment and Revitalization Project (includes cycle track, food court, etc.) in the CRZ II zone, where such activities are prohibited.
- The Project aims to get Blue Flag certification for beaches.
- Blue Flag Certification is a voluntary globally recognized eco-tag given to environment-friendly & clean beaches marinas and boats, accorded by Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE).
- NGT has directed Authorities to take approval from State Coastal Zone Management Authority before carrying out any activity on the beaches, besides cleaning and removing encroachments.
About Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)
- CRZ notification, 1991 issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
- Replaced later by the CRZ Notification, 2011 (reviewed by Shailesh Nayak Committee) and CRZ Notification, 2019.
- CRZ Notification, 2019 requires states to update Coastal Zone Management Plans (CZMPs) created as per the 2011 notification.
- Institutional Mechanism:
- National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) at the Union.
- State/Union Territory Coastal Zone Management Authorities (SCZMAs/UTCZMAs) in every coastal State/UT
- District Level Committees (DLCs) in every district that has a coastal stretch
Classification of CRZs | |
CRZ-IA | Ecologically Sensitive Areas like Mangroves, Salt Marshes etc. |
CRZ-1B | Intertidal zone i.e. area between Low Tide Line and High Tide Line. |
CRZ-II | Constitute the developed land areas up to or close to the shoreline, within the existing municipal limits or in other existing legally designated urban areas. |
CRZ-III | Land areas that are relatively undisturbed (viz. rural areas, etc.) and those which do not fall under CRZ-II. |
CRZ-IVA | Area between Low Tide Line up to 12 nautical miles on the seaward side. |
CRZ-IVB | Applicable on Tidal influenced water bodies. |