Have coastal ecosystem norms been violated?
- August 14, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Have coastal ecosystem norms been violated?
Subject: Environment
Section:
- This week, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India tabled a report in Parliament on whether steps taken by the Union Environment Ministry to conserve India’s coastal ecosystems have been successful.
- The CAG frequently undertakes ‘performance audits’ of government programmes and ministries. This latest report contains the observations from an audit of Conservation of Coastal Ecosystems from 2015-20.
What are the Centre’s obligations on conserving the coastline?
- The government has issued notifications under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, to regulate activities along India’s coasts particularly regarding construction.
- The Coastal Regulation Zone Notification (CRZ) 2019, implemented by the Ministry, classifies the coastal area into different zones to manage infrastructure activities and regulate them.
- The three institutions responsible for the implementation of the CRZ are the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) at the Centre, the State/Union Territory Coastal Zone Management Authorities (SCZMAs/UTCZMAs) in every coastal State and Union Territory and the District Level Committees (DLCs) in every district that has a coastal stretch and where the CRZ notification is applicable.
- These bodies examine if CRZ clearances granted by the government are as per procedure, if project developers once given the go-ahead are complying with conditions, and if the project development objectives under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (ICZMP) are successful.
- They also evaluate the measures taken up by the government towards achieving the targets under Sustainable Development Goals, a set of United Nations-prescribed targets for countries towards eradicating poverty and becoming sustainable societies.
Why did the CAG undertake this audit?
- The CAG has a constitutional mandate to investigate and report on publicly funded programmes. The CAG conducted “pre-audit studies” and found that there were large-scale CRZ violations in the coastal stretches.
- Incidences of illegal construction activities (reducing coastal space) and effluent discharges from local bodies, industries and aquaculture farms had been reported by the media and this prompted it to undertake a detailed investigation.
What did the audit find?
- The audit pointed out various categories of violations. For one, the Environment Ministry hadn’t notified NCZMA as a permanent body and it was being reconstituted every few years.
- In the absence of defined membership, it was functioning as an ad-hoc body. There were instances of the Expert Appraisal Committees — a committee of scientific experts and senior bureaucrats who evaluate the feasibility of an infrastructure project and its environmental consequences — not being present during project deliberations. There were also instances of the members of the EAC being fewer than half of the total strength during the deliberations.
- The SCZMA had not been reconstituted in Karnataka and there was delayed reconstitution in the States of Goa, Odisha and West Bengal. The DLCs of Tamil Nadu lacked participation from local traditional communities. In Andhra Pradesh, DLCs were not even established.
- There were instances of projects being approved despite inadequacies in the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) reports. These included non-accredited consultants preparing the EIA, using outdated data, not evaluating environmental impacts of the project, not appraising the disasters which the project area was prone to and so forth.
What problems did the CAG find in the States?
- Tamil Nadu didn’t have a strategy in place to conserve the Gulf of Mannar Islands. In Goa, there was no system for monitoring coral reefs and no management plans to conserve turtle nesting sites. In Gujarat, instruments procured to study the physiochemical parameters of soil and water of the inertial area of the Gulf of Kutch weren’t used. Sea patrolling in Gahirmatha Sanctuary, in Kendrapara, Odisha did not happen. A research laboratory at Dangmal, Kendrapara District, Odisha constructed in 2016 has not been made functional till date. There was no website to disseminate the information related to the NCZMA , the CAG found, which is a clear violation of the mandated requirements of the Authority.
What lies ahead?
- These reports are placed before the Standing Committees of Parliament, which select those findings and recommendations that they judge to be the most critical to public interest and arrange hearings on them. In this case, the Environment Ministry is expected to explain omissions pointed out by the CAG and make amends.
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM):
- ICZM aims to improve livelihood of coastal communities and conserve the coastal ecosystem.
- The ICZM plan involves identification of infrastructure requirements and livelihood improvement means in coastal districts. Conservation of mangroves is among the components.
- The national component of the project includes mapping of the country’s coastline and demarcation of the hazard line.
- It is a World Bank assisted project.
- It is being implemented by the Department of Forests and Environment with assistance from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
- The National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), Chennai, will provide scientific and technical inputs.
Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM)
- SICOM has been established under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate change, Government of India with a vision for vibrant, healthy and resilient Coastal and Marine Environment for continuous and enhanced outflow of benefits to the Country and the Coastal Community.
Main Roles, Responsibilities and Objectives: –
- Nodal agency for strategic planning, management, execution, monitoring and successful implementation of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) practices in across the country and National Project Management Unit (NPMU) for the ICZM Project and ENCORE project in all the 13 Coastal States/UTs.
- To act as a technical Secretariat to the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) related to regulatory provisions and CRZ classification of coastal stretches of the country.
- Coordinating agency and an interface for various ministries of Govt. Of India and the Govts and various line departments of the 13 Coastal State/UTs., Funding Institutions (World Bank) for Enhancing Coastal and Ocean Resource Efficiency Project (ENCORE)
- To support to check violations to CRZ through improved technology-enabled enforcement strengthened institutions and regulatory and legal reforms.
- SICOM has also embarked upon the Pilot Blue Flag Programme, a first in India under Beach Environment & Aesthetic Management Services (BEAMS) for development of world class Beaches in India
- Capacity building of Coastal State Units in planning, implementation and management of Integrated Coastal Zone Management programs and other national and State organization / agencies associated with the projects
- Serving as an interface among coastal communities, experts, and governments, including providing with and disseminating examples of best practices and guidelines for coastal and marine ecological security and livelihood security of coastal and island communities
- To undertake any additional work or function as may be assigned by MOEF&CC from time to time in the areas of coastal management and other related activities