A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking ban on all construction work, alternative work or any other development work in coastal regions of the country, in order to protect the coastal areas from the rising sea levels and erosion.
Filed by C.R. Jaya Sukin under Article 32 of the Constitution, the petition sought directions from the Apex Court to all States and Union territories having coastal areas to prohibit the burial of any mortal remains and plant suitable trees in such regions, in the interest of the nation.
The plea, drawn by Advocate Narender Kumar Verma, mentioned the report released by the Union of India in July 2018 on National Assessment of Shoreline Changes along the Indian Coast.
As per the report, the 6,632-km-long Indian coastline of mainland was analysed from 1990 to 2018 and it was found that about 33.6 percent of the coastline was under varying degrees of erosion.
The plea further sought directions to stay the decision taken by the government of Tamil Nadu to construct a 134-feet tall ‘Pen’ statue inside the Marina beach.
It said the decision taken by the State of Tamil Nadu to construct a 134-feet tall ‘Pen’ statue inside the Marina beach has totally violated CRZ I, CRZ II, CRZ III and CRZ IV.
It said the CRZ-I A shall constitute the following ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs) and the geomorphological features, which played a role in maintaining the integrity of the coast viz:
(i) Mangroves (in case mangrove area is more than 1000 square metres, a buffer of 50 metres along the mangroves shall be provided and such area shall also constitute CRZ–I A);
(ii) Corals and coral reefs;
(iii) Sand dunes;
(iv) Biologically active mudflats;
(v) National parks, marine parks, sanctuaries, reserve forests, wildlife habitats and other protected areas under the provisions of WildLife (Protection) Act, 1972 (53 of 1972), Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (69 of 1980) or Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 0f 1986), including Biosphere Reserves;
(vi) Salt marshes;
(vii) Turtle nesting grounds;
(viii) Horse shoe crabs’ habitats;
(ix) Sea grass beds;
(x) Nesting grounds of birds;
(xi) Areas or structures of archaeological importance and heritage sites.
(b) A detailed environment management plan shall be formulated by the states and Union territories for such ecologically sensitive areas in respective territories, as mapped out by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai based on guidelines as contained in Annexure-I to this notification and integrated with the CZMP.
As per CRZ- IVA, the water area and the sea bed area between the Low Tide Line up to 12 nautical miles on the seaward side shall constitute CRZ-IV A.
The petition said the CRZ-IV B areas shall include the water area and the bed area between LTL at the bank of the tidal influenced water body to the LTL on the opposite side of the bank, extending from the mouth of the water body at the sea up to the influence of tide, which means the salinity of five parts per thousand (ppt) during the driest season of the year.
The petitioner has impleaded the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, along with nine states and two Union Territories as respondents in the case.
The states include Andhra Pradesh; Gujarat; Karnataka; Kerala; Maharashtra; Orissa; Telangana; West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
The Union Territories of Puducherry and Goa, along with the Tamil Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority, Department of Environment; Chennai District Coastal Zone Management Authority, Department of Environment, and the Scientist-in-Charge Madras Regional Station, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute have also been impleaded as respondents in the matter.
(Case title: K.K.Ramesh vs Union of India & Ors)