Tamil Nadu: Draft coastal management plan wades into murky waters as fishermen cry foul

CHENNAI: Even as the Tamil Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority (TNSCZMA) completed the revised draft of Coastal Zone Management Plan map (CZMP), the fishermen have pointed out that the authority left details of fishing grounds and long-term housing needs out of the revised maps, again.

Bharathi, president, South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association, and Neithal Makkal Katchi, said a pre-consultation meeting was held recently in which representatives from fishermen associations and officials from the Fisheries department took part.

"During the meeting, the authorities showed only certain portions of the CZMP, not the entire map. As per the norms, the CZMP should include long-term housing plans for fishermen, but the maps do not have such plans," he pointed out.

Soon after the TNSCZMA released the draft CZMP in 2022, separate cases were filed with the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), requesting it to direct the authority to use CZMP 1996, instead of CZMP 1997, as based map for the preparation of the updated CZMP. Fishermen alleged that the draft excluded long-term housing needs of the fishermen community, based on which the NGT directed the authority to conduct ground truthing and include housing plans.

Bharathi added that fishermen’s representatives informed the authority that they would not accept the CZMP without long-term housing plans.

Earlier in 2022, when the draft CZMP was released, fisherfolk condemned the authority for excluding several salt pans, water bodies, backwaters and other ecologically sensitive areas.

Fishing grounds excluded

RL Srinivasan, a fishermen activist from Ennore, pointed out that the revised draft CZMP maps have excluded the traditional fishing grounds (paadu) and fish-breeding sites in Ennore region.

"During the pre-consultation, two maps (TN-110 and TN-111) were shown to the representatives. The maps pertaining to areas between Ennore to Kalanji do not have details of fishing grounds and breeding sites," he added.

He further stated that the fishermen themselves have sent details of fishing grounds and breeding sites using GIS maps to the authority.

"Despite this, the details are not recorded in the revised draft. As per the CRZ notification 2019, fishing grounds should be included in the maps to safeguard fishermen," Srinivasan urged the Fisheries department in a petition.

AR Rahul Nadh, member-secretary of TNSCZMA, clarified that the revised CZMP has been prepared based on the NGT directions. "During the meeting, fishermen have raised a few questions and we are taking measures to incorporate their concerns," he said.

He added that most of the issues raised by the fishermen were site-specific. As the NCSCM (National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management) has prepared the draft CZMP, the authority is addressing the issues through them.

When asked about conducting public hearings, Nadh said the revised CZMP will be submitted to the NGT and based on further directions from it, the next course of actions will be decided.

It may be noted that the NGT had ordered the government, in February 2021, to prepare the CZMP using CZMP 1996 as the based map to which the authority had allegedly failed.

Coastal Protection

The Coastal Zone Management Plan Maps (CZMP) are mandated by CRZ notification 2019 to ensure sustainable development in coastal areas. Once ecologically sensitive areas, traditional fishing grounds and other details are included in the maps, other projects will be regulated or banned in such areas.