Fishworkers demand national debate before new CRZ notification

New Delhi, July 1 (UNI) National Fishworkers' Forum has urged the Centre not to dilute the 1991 Coastal Regulation Zone notification by bringing out a new law in an hasty and 'non-consultative' manner.

Fearing that the union environment ministry was devising a new CRZ notification on the basis of the recommendations of the M S Swaminathan Committee, NFF in a statement here demanded a national debate with all the stake-holders concerned, including the traditional inhabitants of the coastal areas.

In an memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and union Environment Minister A Raja, the forum sought to safegaurd the interests of the traditional fishing community.

It was alleged in the statement that the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commitee did not have clarity on what would be done about violations/violators that had been booked and yet to be penalised under the 1991 notification.

The zonation proposed by the committee, particularly Coastal Management Zone II, was not acceptable, given that it was likely to pave the way for unsustainable developmental activities in large areas along the coast, it added.

''The shift in focus from regulation to management proposed by the Swaminathan Commitee is nothing but an attempt at diluting the regulatory aspects of the 1991 notification by facilitating greater development activities in the coastal zone,'' it claimed.

The forum demanded right to housing of the fishing communities in the coastal areas, right to use the coastal land for occupational purposes and parking boats, and right to access to sea and marine resources.

UNI IP SB KN1318