Press Release: MoEFCC Misuses Environmental Protection Powers; Dilutes CRZ to facilitate mega projects on the coast

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Chennai: In a perversion of environmental protection laws in India, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has used clauses meant for strengthening provisions of existing legislations to bring in yet another dilution of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification 2011. The amendment, dated 02/07/2018 removes all administrative powers given to the “Hazard Line” within the CRZ Framework, reducing the hazard line to merely a tool that has to be taken into account while planning. The sprit of the CRZ notification, that introduced the hazard line as a way forward for sustainable coastal planning as been misused.

The need for hazard mapping for coastal planning gained relevance after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami when, unsustainable development activities and its associated coastal degradation led to widespread inundation, loss of ecosystems, coastal habitats, infrastructure, property and life.

Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs), earmarked as CRZ I, requiring most protection under the notification have also been opened up for “Strategic”, “Defence” and “Projects of National Importance”. However, definitions for these words have not been laid out. Mega flagship projects like “Sagarmala”, “Bharatmala” and “Smart Cities” have been touted to be multi-million dollar strategic projects of GoI. The lack of clarity about what makes a project strategic could mean that mega corporations can enjoy impunity while setting up destructive development on India’s coastline

Allowing facilities of such projects to come up unregulated in CRZ Areas I Ecologically Sensitive Areas is hazardous and is bound to degrade the marine ecology, coastal environment, coastal land use, livelihoods and the aesthetic uses of the sea coast. Both these changes were proposed via the Draft Coastal Regulation Zone Notification 2018, which faced massive objections and criticism from fisherfolk, civil society groups among others.

The latest amendment can be accessed at http://envfor.nic.in/sites/default/files/S.O.3197(E)-AMENDMENT%20IN%20CRZ%20NOTIFICATION%20.pdf

For More Information, contact:

Pooja Kumar – 9791122180

Saravanan K – 9176331717

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சென்னை : மத்திய சுற்றுச்சூழல் துறைக்கு சுற்றுச்சூழலை பாதுகாக்க கொடுக்கப்பட்ட அதிகாரத்தை தவறாக பயன்படுத்தி CRZ-2011 அறிவிப்பாணையை வழுயிலக்க செய்துள்ளனர். 02.ஜீலை.2018 அன்று கொண்டுவந்த இந்த திருத்தத்தில் அபாயக்கோடுக்கு இருந்த அதிகாரப்பூர்வ சக்தியை குறைத்து, திட்டமிடலில் மட்டுமே ஒரு கருவியாக காண்பிக்கின்றனர்.  அபாயக்கோடு என்பது சிறான வளர்ச்சி (ம) கடற்கரை திட்டமிடலுக்காக கொண்டுவரப்பட்டது. ஆனால் இந்த திருத்தம் இதற்கு நேர்மாறாக அமைந்துள்ளது.

2004- சுனாமியில் ஏற்பட்ட உயீர் இழப்பு, கடற்கரை சூழலுக்கு பாதிப்பு, வாழ்விடத்திற்கு பாதிப்பு, வெள்ள பாதிப்பை வைத்து கடற்கரை திட்டமிடலில் அபாயக்கோடுக்கான முக்கிய துவம் கண்டறிந்தோம்.

CRZ-2011 கீழ் அதிகபடியாக பாதுகாப்பு கொடுத்துள்ள, CRZ-I னாக கருதபடுகின்ற எளிதில் பாதிக்கக்கூடிய சுற்றுச்சூழல் முக்கியதுவம் வாய்ந்த இடங்களில் யூத்திவாய்ந்த திட்டங்கள், பாதுகாப்பு திட்டங்கள், தேசிய முக்கிய துவம் வாய்ந்த திட்டங்களுக்கு இந்த திருத்தம் வழிவகை செய்கிறது. ஆனால் இந்த வார்த்தைகளுக்கு ஆர்த்தம் கொடுக்கப்படவில்லை. அரசினுடைய மிக பெரிய திட்டங்களான பாரத்மாலா, சாகர்மாலா, சுமார்ட் சிட்டி யுத்திவாய்ந்த திட்டமாக கூறிவரும் நிலையில் யுத்திவாய்ந்த திட்டம் என்ன என்ற தெளிவு இல்லாத்தை பயன்படுத்தி பெரிய கார்பேர்ட் நிறுவனங்கள் இந்திய கடற்கரையை அழிவுக்கான வளர்ச்சியை செயல்படுத்த முடியும்.

இத்தகைய திட்டங்களை CRZ பகுதியில் கட்டுப்பாடில்லாமல் அனுமதித்தால் சுற்றுச்சூழல் ரீதியாக எளிதில் பாதிக்கக்கூடிய இடங்கள், கடல் சூழல், கடலோர சூழல், கடலோர நில பயன்பாடு, வாழ்வாதாரங்கள் மற்றும் கடற்கரையின் பயன்பாடுகளை சீர்குலைக்கும். இந்த மாற்றங்கள் இரண்டும் வரைவு கடற்கரை ஒழுங்குமுறை மண்டல அறிவிப்பாணை – 2018ன் வழியாக ஏற்கனவே முன்மொழியப்பட்டது. இதில் மீனவர்கள், சமூக ஆர்வளர்கள்  கடுமையான ஆட்சேபனைகள் மற்றும் விமர்சனங்களையும் பதிவு செய்துள்ளது என்பது குறிபிடத்க்கதாகும்.

இந்த திருத்தத்தை அனுக:- http://envfor.nic.in/sites/default/files/S.O.3197(E)-AMENDMENT%20IN%20CRZ%20NOTIFICATION%20.pdf

மேலும் விவரங்களுக்கு :

பூஜாக்குமார் :  9791122180

கா.சரவணன் : 9176331717

 

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PRESS RELEASE: Fishers Threaten Statewide Stir Demanding Withdrawal of Illegal Coastal Zone Management Plan

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27 February, 2018. CHENNAI : Tamil Nadu fishers and civil society groups have threatened statewide action unless the Government of Tamil Nadu withdraws the illegal and incomplete CZMP uploaded by it for public comments. The documents uploaded are in contempt of two orders of the National Green Tribunal directing the Government to conduct public consultation only after publishing complete plans prepared in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 1991. See NGT (South Zone) orders in OA 86/2014 and OA 141/2014.

The maps uploaded by the GoTN 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 500 metres line from High Tide Line, the CRZ Notification restricts development between the HTL and Hazard Line as this zone is considered dangerous and vulnerable to the extreme behaviour of the seas. The notification also requires the state government to provide necessary safeguards for the 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.

Toxic air pollutants alarmingly high in Chennai: Survey

The residents of Chennai are breathing unhealthy air most of the time, claims a real-time, first of its kind citizen-led air quality monitoring network on Monday.

The data collected a daily average of the levels of the dangerous tiny particulate matter, known as PM 2.5, which lodge deep in human lungs, in Kuruvimedu (Vallur), Kodungaiyur, Anna Salai at Teynampet and Mugatwarakuppam in Ennore, ranging from unhealthy to hazardous for more than 80 per cent of the time.

Health Experts and Citizens launch a network of low-cost air quality monitors for Chennai

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Chennai, 29 January 2018: Launching Chennai’s first citizen-led real time air quality monitoring network, founder and trustee of Delhi-based Lung Care Foundation Dr. Arvind Kumar said data from Chennai’s new “Atmos” monitors reveal that Chennai residents are breathing unhealthy air most days in a given month. The data revealed that between January 1 and January 23, daily averages of the levels of the dangerous PM2.5 in Kuruvimedu (Vallur), Kodungaiyur, Anna Salai at Teynampet and Mugatwarakuppam in Ennore ranged from unhealthy to hazardous for more than 80 percent of time. Air quality in Eldams Road near Teynampet was better with 10 days out of 16 daily measurements revealing air quality within the 24-hour Indian PM2.5 standard of 60 micrograms (ug)/m3. None of the locations had any day where air quality was within the more stringent World Health Organisation (WHO) 24-hour standard of 25 ug/m3. All locations recorded hazardous levels (above 180 ug/m3) of PM2.5 on 13 January, the day of Bhogi festival.

A joint project of Chennai-based Huma Lung Foundation and The Other Media’s Healthy Energy Initiative, and Mumbai-based UrbanSciences, the citizen air monitoring exercise will display its results on the website atmos.urbansciences.in/dashboard. The website will continuously report readings of PM2.5 from the five locations. Dr. Hisamuddin Papa, a leading pulmonologist who is leading the effort in Chennai, has installed one monitor atop his hospital in Teynampet, and has urged medical institutions and media houses to also invest in the Rs. 15,000 easy-to-operate air quality monitors.

Coastal Cities and Sea Level Rise

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in a 2012 study titled Coastal Zones of India predicted that more than 3020 SqKM of productive land mass in Tamilnadu is prone to submergence due to rising seas in 100 years. Given this reality, the looming question remains – How prepared are Indian Cities to deal with Sea Level Rise (SLR)? While several cities across the world have begun developing plans to deal with the vulnerabilities associated with rising sea levels, Indian cities continue to grow precariously and often directly in harms way.

SLR is already underway. But it is popularly perceived as something that will occur in the future. This seminar aims to start a conversation about rising seas and ways to educate ourselves and our regulators about what is at stake, the need to put the safety of coastal infrastructure, communities and spaces in focus in planning the city’s future.

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CRZ Plan Should Consider Sea Level Rise: Fishers, Environmentalists urge GoTN

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Chennai:  Highlighting a 2012 report that predicts that 3209.33 sq. km of Tamil Nadu’s coast is likely to be submerged and millions rendered homeless if sea level rises by 1 m by 2100, fisherfolk and environmentalists have urged the state government to ensure that the soon-to-be released Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) accounts for Sea Level Rise (SLR) and contains the mandatory hazard line, long-term plans for fisher housing and prospective land-use. Under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2011, each maritime state ought to have prepared its CZMP by 2012 containing these mandatory elements. Despite the dire warnings contained in the report – “Coastal Zones of India” – by ISRO’s Space Application Centre (SAC), the Governments of India and Tamil Nadu have allowed densification of industrial installations and urban sprawl in vulnerable coastal areas.

Prepared in 2012, the SAC’s report predicts that for a 1 m sea level rise by 2100, sq.km of state highway, 85.66 km of railway infrastructure, 497.65 sq.km of cropland and 826 sq.km of aquifers will be submerged or degraded by tidal action. Another document – “Future Sea Level Rise: Assessment of Loss and Damage in 2015” – prepared for the State Planning Commission predicts that in Chennai alone, 10 lakh people and 144 sq.km of land are in danger of submergence due to SLR by 2050.

While the SAC’s report has been quietly filed away, the State Planning Commission’s report on Chennai has not been published despite its public importance.

As per the submergence maps contained in the SAC’s report, Chennai stands to lose 3.11 sq. km of critical industrial infrastructure, almost all in the Ennore region. NTECL Vallur, all of TANGEDCO’s power plants in Ennore, Kamarajar Port’s existing and proposed infrastructure inside the Creek, HPCL and BPCL’s oil terminals, the Minjur desalination plant and portions of CPCL’s petrochemical refinery in Manali will be swallowed by the sea. The groundwater resources of Araniyar-Kosasthalaiyar basin will be degraded due to tidal ingress. The entire IT corridor will be affected by sea level rise and most of the newly developed areas in Pallikaranai marshlands will be submerged under an advancing sea.

Industries and settlements in low-lying areas – such as the proposed 4000 MW Cheyyur plant and existing nuclear complex in Kalpakkam, the existing IL&FS plant and proposed petroleum refinery and Petrochemical Investment Region in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam, industrial installations and salt pans in Tuticorin and the Koodankulam nuclear reactors are located in vulnerable areas that are prone either to submergence or degradation due to tidal action.

“Climate change and sea level rise are real and present dangers. The CZMP offers an opportunity to plan for the decongesting of the coast. Other countries are doing that. We must start retreating from the sea and improving our natural safeguards against extreme sea-borne events,” said Pooja Kumar of Coastal Resource Centre.

Saravanan, whose village Urur Kuppam is already witnessing erosion, says “The CZMP should include a long-term housing plan for coastal communities as we are being squeezed by a seaward moving city and a land-ward moving tide.”

For More Information, contact – Pooja Kumar – 9791122180

Organized by – The Coastal Resource Centre, 92, 3^rd Cross Street, Thiruvalluvar Nagar, Besant Nagar, Chennai 600090

Forest dept wakes up, stays illegal construction near Pulicat

CHENNAI: Cracking the whip on rampant illegal constructions at the ecologically-sensitive Pulicat, the State forest department stayed a mega residential project that proposed to construct rows of villas on the sea front of the lake.

The action came following a series of reports in Express, including one on July 28 that detailed the real estate developments in the area, including the under-construction township coming up within the Pulicat sanctuary.K Geethanjali, wildlife warden, Chennai, told Express that a team has been sent to probe the allegation that construction was taking place within the Pulicat sanctuary boundaries.

“About 13 villages under local panchayat limits are part of Pulicat sanctuary, which is a no-development zone. Traditional fishermen in the area can carry out bona fide activities, but building permanent structures for commercial activities is prohibited. We issued notices and works have been stopped,” the official said.