Goa will prepare its own coastal management plan: Cabral

The Goa government will prepare its own Coastal Zone Management plan and send it to the Centre for approval, state Environment minister Nilesh Cabral said in the Assembly on Tuesday.

He said the state government would not depend on the agency appointed by the Union government for this purpose, adding that the consultative process to prepare it has already started.

Cabral informed the House that the CZM plan prepared by Chennai-based National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) was "erroneous" and had been rejected by the state government.

"When we approach the Centre with the plan, we will ask it to have Goa-specific changes in the CZM plan," he said.

GFP MLA Vijai Sardesai said the plan should be prepared by the Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography.

The issue was raised in the Assembly by BJP MLA Dayanand Sopte.