New CRZ laws ease shackles on building near coast

The government has eased tough restrictions on construction activities along Mumbai's coastline, and allowed redevelopment of slums and old, dilapidated buildings.

The new Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) guidelines notified today gave concessions to fishing communities living along the coast, and provided for industrial activities "that have necessarily to be located in the coastal regions".

The new rules will replace the two-decade old CRZ Notification of 1991 that protects and regulates the use of land within 500 m of the coastline. The 1991 notification allows almost no new construction in this zone and treats the entire 7,500-km coastline uniformly.

The new rules acknowledge the special needs of areas like Greater Mumbai, Goa and islands in the Kerala backwaters, and make exceptions for building and economic activities there.

The concessions include lifting of restrictions on slum redevelopment projects in Mumbai located within 500 m of the coastline. Lakhs of people living in these slums are without drinking water, electricity or sewage facilities. Plans to redevelop these areas have been shackled by the 1991 CRZ law. A large number of unsafe buildings in this zone can also be renovated or reconstructed now.

In order to ensure that the new rules are not misused in land-starved Mumbai, the government has put in place a strict transparency mechanism, including a provision that all redevelopment and reconstruction projects would be subject to the Right to Information Act.

Also, these schemes can be implemented only by agencies in which the state government or any of its organisations has at least a 51 per cent stake.

In Kerala, which has a large number of islands in the backwaters — essentially just narrow strips of land — the new guidelines would apply only up to 50 m from the coast, not 500 m.

On the demand of fishing communities, the no-development zone has been reduced from 200 m to 100 m from the coastline in areas that are otherwise relatively undisturbed. Traditional dwellers of these areas will henceforth be allowed to build houses and other infrastructure in the land between 100 m and 200 m from the coastline.

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