Port development not at the cost of ecology: Govt

The environment and forests ministry has proposed amendments to the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification, 1991, to expedite development of ports and harbours without damaging the environment and the coastline.

The draft policy circulated by the ministry has said expansion plans of existing ports, harbours and jetties can be implemented only if the hydro-dynamic studies indicate that there will be no significant impact either to the shoreline or the ecologically sensitive areas along the stretch.

The proposed regulations also suggest the need of a comprehensive environment impact assessment (EIA) report — based on data compiled over three seasons, actual field measurements and appropriate modelling studies — before sites are identified for new projects.

The amendments to the notification becomes important because the Centre had earlier proposed an upgrade plan of Rs 57,728 crore for major ports — awarding 276 projects to increase their capacity to more than 1,000 million tonnes — under the National Maritime Development Programme. The government, however, has recently revised the target to 860 million tonnes by the end of March 2012.

Sources told Business Standard that the proposed amendments would be finalised following recommendations by the expert committee headed by MS Swaminathan.

The committee had recommended a study to examine the impacts of port projects on the coastline, before expansion of existing ports and initiation of new projects are undertaken. Sources said the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has been asked to identify the coastal stretches with regard to erosion and accretion.

An evaluation of the 7,500 km Indian coastline is important to study the productive habitats and rich biodiversity along the stretch, including Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep.

It has been suggested that areas identified by central or state government agencies as prone to high erosion (above one meter per year), within 10 km on either side of eco-sensitive areas categorized as CRZ-I(i) and water bodies with high bio-diversity, would not be considered for setting up of ports and harbours. However, fishing jetties facilities for local communities could be set-up following an EIA report as per the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006.

In case of Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands, the port and harbour projects would be undertaken in accordance with CRZ Notification, 1991 and approved Coastal Zone Management Plans. The port projects of more than 5 million tonnes per annum located in these islands, would be subjected to comprehensive EIA, including physical and mathematical modelling and ground verification.

The Institute for Ocean Management, Chennai, and ICMAM has been given the responsibility of identifying the shoreline changes at a micro level and map them in at least 1:25000 scale maps. According to sources, a decision with regard to specific conditions is likely to be taken by October and subsequently a national policy in this regard would be drawn up.