C Shivakumar
Chennai:
Tamil Nadu will come out with its own Coastal Zone management plan
once Ministry of Environment and Forest completes the mapping of
Coastal Regulation Zone One as well as High Tide Line.
R Ramesh, director of Chennai-based National Center for Sustainable
Coastal Management, an autonomous body of Ministry of Environment and
Forest, told Express that the process to map CRZ-1 and High Tide Line
is on the verge of completion and everything is likely to be in place
in the next six months.
“Once CRZ-1 and High Tide Line is mapped then states will be coming up
with a state costal zone management plan,” said Ramesh during the
sidelines of Multi-Stakeholders Consultative Meeting on Coastal and
Marine Zone Management organized by M S Swaminathan Research
Foundation.
The CRZ-I consists of ecologically sensitive areas. These include
mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass, salt marshes, protected areas or
reserve forests besides horse shoe crab habitats, turtle nesting sites
and bird nesting sites. It also includes geomorphologically important
areas, which include sand dunes, sandy beaches, mudflats and
inter-tidal areas besides heritage and archaeological sites.
He said that all these would be mapped in a digital format. He said
the high tide line, the line on the land upto which the highest water
line reaches during the spring tide, is also being mapped so that it
could be used as a baseline for development as well as conservation
activities along the coast. “Both have been mapped aerially by the
Survey of India,” he said.
Ramesh also said the hazard line along Indian coast is being mapped by
taking into account erosion and flooding of the coast. It is being
demarcated as the most landward boundary taking into account water
level fluctuation, sea level rise and shoreline changes (erosion and
accretion of the coast). The water level fluctuation is being recorded
by Tidal gauges. “Earlier we had only 10 to 12 tidal gauges now the
water fluctuations are being studied by 200 tidal gauges,” he said.
The mapping of CRZ-1 as well as hazard line is being done when over 40
per cent of the Indian coast is eroding, much higher than previous
estimates.
Earlier, M A Atmanand, Director, National Institute of Ocean
Technology (NIOT), Chennai, who spoke during the inaugural session,
called for sustainable solutions along the coastline. "There is need
to maintain a balance between sustainable development and
environmental protection."
Defending the introduction of hazard line, noted scientist M S
Swaminathan said that the 1991 notification sought to regulate all
developmental activities in the inter-tidal area and within 500 metres
on the landward side without any scientific study. He said it failed
to take into account that the Indian coastline is highly diverse in
terms of biodiversity, hydrodynamic conditions, demographic patterns,
natural resources, geomorphological and geological features.
Box:
• CRZ–1 is categorized into three classes, as follows:
– 1a: Ecologically Sensitive Areas, which includes (i) Mangroves;
(ii) Coral reefs; (iii) Seagrass; (iv) Salt marshes; (v) Protected
areas/ Reserve forests, etc; (vi) Horse shoe crab habitats; (vii)
Turtle nesting sites; and (viii) Bird nesting sites
– 1b: Geomorphologically Important Areas, which include (i) Sand
dunes; (ii) Sandy beaches; (iii) Mudflats and (iv) Inter-tidal areas
– 1c: Heritage/Archaeological sites
Hazard Line:
• Demarcation of the hazard line along the entire coast of India
taking into account erosion and flooding of the coast
• The hazard line for the CRZ purposes is being demarcated as the
most landward boundary taking into account the following parameters:
– Water level fluctuation, Sea level rise and Shoreline changes
(erosion/ accretion of the coast)
Coast of India
• Length of the Mainland coast of India: ~5500km; 9 coastal States and 4 UTs
• 73 coastal districts with 77 cities and towns including largest
and most dense urban agglomerations - Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi
and Visakhapatnam
• About 250 million people live along the coastal areas: ~10
million fisherfolk derive their livelihood from the coast
Source: Moef
Chennai:
Tamil Nadu will come out with its own Coastal Zone management plan
once Ministry of Environment and Forest completes the mapping of
Coastal Regulation Zone One as well as High Tide Line.
R Ramesh, director of Chennai-based National Center for Sustainable
Coastal Management, an autonomous body of Ministry of Environment and
Forest, told Express that the process to map CRZ-1 and High Tide Line
is on the verge of completion and everything is likely to be in place
in the next six months.
“Once CRZ-1 and High Tide Line is mapped then states will be coming up
with a state costal zone management plan,” said Ramesh during the
sidelines of Multi-Stakeholders Consultative Meeting on Coastal and
Marine Zone Management organized by M S Swaminathan Research
Foundation.
The CRZ-I consists of ecologically sensitive areas. These include
mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass, salt marshes, protected areas or
reserve forests besides horse shoe crab habitats, turtle nesting sites
and bird nesting sites. It also includes geomorphologically important
areas, which include sand dunes, sandy beaches, mudflats and
inter-tidal areas besides heritage and archaeological sites.
He said that all these would be mapped in a digital format. He said
the high tide line, the line on the land upto which the highest water
line reaches during the spring tide, is also being mapped so that it
could be used as a baseline for development as well as conservation
activities along the coast. “Both have been mapped aerially by the
Survey of India,” he said.
Ramesh also said the hazard line along Indian coast is being mapped by
taking into account erosion and flooding of the coast. It is being
demarcated as the most landward boundary taking into account water
level fluctuation, sea level rise and shoreline changes (erosion and
accretion of the coast). The water level fluctuation is being recorded
by Tidal gauges. “Earlier we had only 10 to 12 tidal gauges now the
water fluctuations are being studied by 200 tidal gauges,” he said.
The mapping of CRZ-1 as well as hazard line is being done when over 40
per cent of the Indian coast is eroding, much higher than previous
estimates.
Earlier, M A Atmanand, Director, National Institute of Ocean
Technology (NIOT), Chennai, who spoke during the inaugural session,
called for sustainable solutions along the coastline. "There is need
to maintain a balance between sustainable development and
environmental protection."
Defending the introduction of hazard line, noted scientist M S
Swaminathan said that the 1991 notification sought to regulate all
developmental activities in the inter-tidal area and within 500 metres
on the landward side without any scientific study. He said it failed
to take into account that the Indian coastline is highly diverse in
terms of biodiversity, hydrodynamic conditions, demographic patterns,
natural resources, geomorphological and geological features.
Box:
• CRZ–1 is categorized into three classes, as follows:
– 1a: Ecologically Sensitive Areas, which includes (i) Mangroves;
(ii) Coral reefs; (iii) Seagrass; (iv) Salt marshes; (v) Protected
areas/ Reserve forests, etc; (vi) Horse shoe crab habitats; (vii)
Turtle nesting sites; and (viii) Bird nesting sites
– 1b: Geomorphologically Important Areas, which include (i) Sand
dunes; (ii) Sandy beaches; (iii) Mudflats and (iv) Inter-tidal areas
– 1c: Heritage/Archaeological sites
Hazard Line:
• Demarcation of the hazard line along the entire coast of India
taking into account erosion and flooding of the coast
• The hazard line for the CRZ purposes is being demarcated as the
most landward boundary taking into account the following parameters:
– Water level fluctuation, Sea level rise and Shoreline changes
(erosion/ accretion of the coast)
Coast of India
• Length of the Mainland coast of India: ~5500km; 9 coastal States and 4 UTs
• 73 coastal districts with 77 cities and towns including largest
and most dense urban agglomerations - Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi
and Visakhapatnam
• About 250 million people live along the coastal areas: ~10
million fisherfolk derive their livelihood from the coast
Source: Moef
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