The Hindu : Karnataka / Mangalore News : CRZ violations in State going unpunished?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mangalore

CRZ violations in State going unpunished?

By M. Raghuram

MANGALORE, MAY 4. Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) was never prime on the agenda of planners ever since 1991 when industrialists started targeting the district.

The planners agree that the main difficulty in enforcing the CRZ norms is the failure to demarcate the high tide level (HTL). As a result, local civic bodies are not in a position to maintain a local CRZ area map, which is hampering procedures to determine CRZ violations. One recent study by the State Government on CRZ violations accuses many important industries and religious institutions of CRZ violations.

The judiciary has also from time to time instructed civic bodies that such violations are punishable and passed orders to remove such structures. The Coastal Zone Management Plan of the country, which has been delegated to the State governments through an Ordinance, is also difficult to implement, many environmentalists say.

The Karnataka Coastal Zone Management Authority, which is in-charge of preventing and removing structures that violate the CRZ norms, is also unclear about what amounts to violations.

The working groups set up by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1982 to prepare environmental guidelines for development of beaches and coastal areas, observe that the "traditional use of sea as a dump site for land-derived wastes has increased the pollution level in the sea and reduced its development potential, including the economic support it provides to people living nearby.

Degradation and wrong utilisation of the beaches are causing aesthetic and environmental loss.

These can be avoided through prudent coastal development and management tools based on assessment of ecological values and potential damages from coastal development," the groups note.

Even disposal of untreated sewage into estuaries within 500 metres of the HTL and into river mouths that have a confluence point with the sea that falls within the HTL also amounts to violation of the CRZ.

Though the Government of India issued the first notification on the CRZ in 1991, it appears that the State Government, which has to carry out the directions contained in the notification, has not initiated any notable action.

It is only after the Supreme Court took objection to the lapses by the State governments, including the Government of Karnataka, that the latter submitted the CRZ plan and maps.

It appears that the State Government did not take steps to find out violations of the regulations or take any corrective steps in that regard, observes the Karnataka High Court in its document, WP NO 4522\2000.

The document states that going by the list of violations furnished by the Nagarika Seva Trust and other violations brought to the notice of the Karnataka Coastal Zone Regulation Authority, it is clear that these violations have taken place in areas coming under gram panchayats and municipalities.

As per the municipal laws, the licensing authorities are the municipality or the panchayats. These authorities are unaware of the CRZ regulations.

As licences for construction of residential and industrial buildings have been issued without any regard to the CRZ regulations, it is evident that the HTL has not been demarcated in many coastal places by the local authorities, which defeats the very purpose of the regulations.

The local bodies have been endowed with enough powers by the judiciary and can use them without any reservations, the document says.

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