THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Now all aided educational institutions in the state will get an exemption from remitting the fee for getting clearance of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms as the state government issued an order in their favour. The order issued by the Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) P H Kurian said all such educational institutions are now exempted from paying CRZ clearance fees.
The order was issued based on applications of St Xavier’s College, Thumba. The manager of the college had approached the government seeking exemption from remitting the CRZ clearance fee. Since government educational institutions entitles such an exemption, the aided educational institutions are eligible to get fee exemption, said the order. It said all aided educational institutions are now eligible to get exemption as the state government looked into the matter seriously.
Padma Mahanti, the Member Secretary, KCZMA, said this doesn’t mean the government and aided educational institutions are exempted from Coastal Regulation Zone norms. They will get an exemption from paying the fees to get clearance. But the CRZ clearance will be provided based on the existing laws, she said. Further, all district CRZ committees will be functional soon and the committees set up for monitoring and implementing coastal regulation zone guidelines and protecting coastal environment will expedite the clearance of backlog files, she said.
Fr Pious, manager of St Xavier’s College, said he had approached the government seeking exemption from CRZ clearance fee which would come around Rs 2-3 lakh, for constructing an auditorium on the campus a couple of years ago. It took over a year to get the exemption and in the meantime the cost for construction and other expenses skyrocketed. But it’s a good decision for other institutions which look to undertake construction activities in their limit, he said.KCZMA officers maintained all construction activities beyond 500 m can be undertaken after getting approval from KCZMA. The fee mandated for the scrutiny of the project was aimed at meeting the expense of KCZMA.
CRZ classification
Coastal stretches of seas, bays, estuaries, brooks, rivers and backwaters influenced by tidal action (in the landward side) up to 500 m from High Tide Line (HTL) and the land between the Low Tide Line (LTL) and HTL are classified under CRZ. Permission is required for construction in coastal stretches within 500 m of HTL on the landward side. No new construction will be permitted in CRZ- I areas, except some projects of national interest