MANGALURU: Minister for Tourism, Ecology and Environment, Anand Singh, has said that he will make all-out efforts to get approval for the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) map, prepared as per the guidelines of the 2019 notification, within two months.
Speaking to reporters after holding a review meeting of his department with elected representatives and officials, the minister said tourism in the coastal districts of the state has not developed, despite huge potential and attributed the same to the CRZ guidelines. However, he said this would change when the relaxations brought into the 2019 notification of the CRZ come into effect.
The map prepared as per the guidelines in the 2019 notification will be submitted to the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai, for approval shortly. Once it is approved, it will be sent to the Central Government for the final clearance, he said.
Singh said he will get it approved within two months, taking it as a challenge. “The approval of the map will ensure development of eco-tourism in the coastal districts, which in turn will generate jobs. Beaches can be developed to attract more tourists. A investors’ meet to develop tourism in the coastal districts will also be planned,” he added.
Stating that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is also interested in development of tourism in the coastal districts, Singh said that efforts will be made to extend the stay of tourists in the region and develop tourism on the lines of Goa. Singh said they would request the Centre to shift the nodal agency that gives approval to CRZ plans from NCSCM-Chennai to NITK in Mangaluru.
MLAs D Vedavyas Kamath, Y Bharat Shetty, Jungle Lodges and Resorts Limited MD Manojkumar, and DCF Dinesh Kumar, were present.