Draft Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), 2018

Why in news?

The draft Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), 2018 was recently released by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

What are the key features?

• HTL - The High Tide Line (HTL) shall be demarcated by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM).
• This shall be reckoned as a universal standard for the HTL for all regulatory purposes under notification, 2018.
• Hazard line - Hazard line mapping will be carried out by Survey of India. 
• However, the Hazard Line has been delinked from the CRZ regulatory regime.
• It shall be used only as a tool for Disaster Management and planning of adaptive and mitigation measures.
• CRZ - CRZ limits on land along the tidal influenced water bodies has been proposed to be reduced.
• It would be reduced from 100 meters or the width of the creek to 50 meters or the width of the creek, whichever is less
• NDZ - A No Development Zone (NDZ) of 20 meters has been proposed.
• This will be stipulated for all Islands close to the main land coast and for all Backwater Islands in the main land.  
• CRZ-III - For CRZ-III areas, two separate categories have been proposed.
• These are CRZ-III A and CRZ-III B.
• CRZ-III A comprises areas that have population density of 2161 per sq km as per 2011 Census.
• These will have NDZ of 50 meters from the HTL as against 200 meters stipulated in the CRZ Notification, 2011.
• CRZ-III B comprises rural areas with population density of below 2161 per sq km as per 2011 Census.
• CRZ-III B areas shall continue to have an NDZ of 200 meters from the HTL.
• Procedure - The procedure for CRZ clearances has been simplified.
• Delegations for recommending/according CRZ clearances to the projects/activities have been made at various levels. 
• Only such projects/activities, which are located in the CRZ-I & IV areas, shall be dealt with for clearance by the MoEFCC. 
• For all other project activities in CRZ-II/III areas, clearance would be at the level of the CZMA (Coastal Zone Management Act).
• Floor Space Index - As per CRZ, 2011 Notification, for CRZ-II areas, Floor Space Index (FSI) had been frozen at 1991 Development Control Regulation (DCR) levels. 
• In the Draft CRZ, 2018 Notification, it has been proposed to de-freeze this.
• Permitting FSI for construction projects, as prevailing on the date of the new Notification is proposed.
• Tourism - Temporary tourism facilities have been proposed in Beaches.
• These include shacks, toilet blocks, change rooms, drinking water facilities etc.
• Such temporary facilities are also proposed to be permissible in the No Development Zone (NDZ) of the CRZ-III areas.
• These will be taken up on the seaward site of the roads where there is a National or State Level Highway passing through the NDZ.
• On the landward side, Resorts/Hotels and other tourism facilities have been proposed to be permitted.
• These will however be subject to the extant regulations of the concerned State.
• Mangroves - The draft proposes some compensatory measures in cases where roads are constructed through mangroves.
• A minimum 3 times the mangrove area affected/ destroyed during the construction shall be taken up for compensatory plantation.
• Mining - Regulated limestone mining will be permitted.
• This will be subject to strict Environmental safeguards, in areas adequately above the height of HTL.
• This would be based on recommendations of reputed National Institutes in the Mining field.

When will it come into force?

• There are Coastal Zone Management Programmes (CZMP) framed to the CRZ Notification, 2011 by the respective States/UTs.
• These have to be revised now by the States/UTs as per the provisions of the CRZ, 2018 Notification.
• This has to be approved by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change.
• Only after this process, the relaxations/amendment proposed in the CRZ Notification, 2018 shall come into force.

Source: PIB

Quick Facts

High Tide Line (HTL)

• HTL is generally the line of intersection of the land with the water's surface at the maximum height reached by a rising tide.
• For the purposes of notification, HTL means the line on the land up to which the highest water line reaches during the spring tide.

Floor Space Index (FSI)

• Floor Space Index is also known as the Floor Area Ratio (FAR).
• It is the ratio between the area of a built up area to the area of the plot (land) on which a building stands.