CHENNAI: The local-level Coastal Zone Management Plans (CZMP) prepared for coastal districts of Tamil Nadu are ‘incomplete’, with several important community assets of fishermen being omitted from the plan in violation of law.
For instance, as per Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification 2011, fishing zones and fish breeding areas should be clearly demarcated in CZMP maps. Also, States must prepare detailed plans considering long-term housing needs of fisher communities, future expansion, and provisions for basic amenities such as sanitation, safety, and disaster preparedness. However, none of these crucial components are part of the CZMP maps approved by the Tamil Nadu government.
TNIE has reviewed the maps, which were accessed by Pooja Kumar of Coastal Resource Centre through RTI. Fisher organisations have called the maps prepared by Institute of Remote Sensing (IRS), Anna University, as flawed and have urged the government to withdraw its approval and redo the maps in compliance with law. State authorities, however, said the maps can be revised only if the complaints are valid.
Pooja Kumar said features such as common resources of fishing communities, land use and land cover, important fishing areas at sea and rivers, fish breeding areas, pollution levels and housing plans for coastal communities are missing in the maps. “Such omissions will push the vulnerable coastal communities to face an uncertain future. These maps have not been placed in public domain yet by the Department of Environment,” she said.
“In order to validate the traditional and customary rights held by our community, it is of utmost importance that these plans, which will be used for local level appraisal and decision making, are prepared in strict adherence to prescribed guidelines. Failure to demarcate these features is an attempt to erase the rights and heritage of small fishing communities,” said K Bharathi of the South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association.
K Saravanan, an activist and fisherman from Urur Kuppam, said his own village is not properly demarcated in the local CZMP map. Saravanan, who is an expert in coastal mapping, said more than 100 fishing villages have sent detailed land-use maps identifying their use of coastal and ocean/riverine commons to assist the State in preparing the maps.
Mistakes in maps won’t happen if fishermen are consulted, says assn
The environment department has chosen to ignore these maps in what is seen as an attempt to make it easier to convert these community resources into mega ports, real estate or high-end tourism projects. “These incomplete maps must be taken back and fully compliant local-level CZMPs must be prepared.
These mistakes won’t happen if these maps are prepared in consultation with fishermen and proper ground truthing is carried out,” said Durai Mahendran of Tamil Nadu Fishermen’s Association. Deepak S Bilgi, Director of Department of Environment, said the maps at 1:4000 ratio were prepared based on Government of India approved CZMP (1:25000) map prepared by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management.
“The objections raised by fishermen and people during the public hearing conducted for CZMP were forwarded to the Institute of Remote Sensing and were incorporated in the local-level cadastral maps. Further corrections can be carried out if fishermen association routes their concerns through the fisheries department and respective district coastal zone management authorities headed by district collectors.
Also, a fresh draft of CZMP is being prepared as per the CRZ Notification, 2019, and will be put out in public domain shortly seeking objections and comments. Fishermen can raise their concerns during the public hearing,” he said.