Expedite CZMP for Mumbai and coastal districts in Maharashtra, Aaditya Thackeray writes to Union minister

State environment minister Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday wrote to Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar seeking inclusion of Coastal Zone Management Plans (CZMP) under the Coastal Regulation Zones (CRZ) Notification, 2019 for the districts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg. The minister sought finalisation of the draft CZMP for Mumbai at the earliest.

Thackeray, in the letter, requested the minister to expedite the matter saying that the state has completed the public consultation for the draft CZMP district-wise. He added that the draft CZMP for Greater Mumbai was “deliberated” by the technical survey committee at Chennai in November 2020.

“To expedite the process of finalisation of draft CZMPs of Greater Mumbai, the necessary instructions for the same be kindly issued to National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) at the earliest,” the minister said.

The draft CZMP maps were prepared by the NCSCM under the Union environment ministry in 2019 for all coastal districts in Maharashtra based on the 2019 Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms. They were published on January 22, 2020.

These maps use distinct colour codes to demarcate CRZ areas (I to IV), high tide and hazard line, fishing zones, intertidal areas, mangrove forests and buffer areas, turtle nesting sites, cyclone shelters, koliwadas and gaothans. These maps also identify coastal areas that can be opened up for infrastructural development.