CHENNAI: Nearly 1,000 fishermen from Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts staged a protest near the Chennai Collectorate on Wednesday, demanding that a public hearing on the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) scheduled for April 27 at Chennai Port be cancelled.South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association leader K Bharati said the CZMP was incomplete and also in contempt of two orders of the National Green Tribunal, which directed the government to conduct public hearings only after publishing complete plans prepared in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2011.
“The maps uploaded by the State government do not contain the hazard line, a demarcation of areas that are vulnerable to the effects of sea level rise, waves and tides. In areas where the hazard line lies beyond the 500m from high tide line (HTL), the CRZ notification restricts development between the HTL and hazard line as this zone is considered dangerous and vulnerable to extreme behaviour of the seas.
The notification also requires the State government to provide necessary safeguards for fishing communities if located within the hazard line. The notification considers the hazard line to be integral to the plan. Not demarcating the hazard line will provide leeway for unrestricted development in vulnerable and dangerous areas along the coast,” he said.
A delegation met Chennai Collector
V Anbuselvan and submitted a memorandum. “We met the Collector, who assured us that the objections will be forwarded to the State government,” he said.
‘Mark hazard line’
According to K Bharati of South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association, the notification requires the State government to provide necessary safeguards for fishing communities if located within the hazard line. Not demarcating the hazard line will provide leeway for unrestricted development in vulnerable and dangerous areas along the coast