District coastal panels remain inactive[image: T. Nandakumar] T. NANDAKUMAR <http://www.thehindu.com/profile/author/t.-nandakumar/> http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/district-coastal-panels-remain-inactive/article8036138.ece Setback for better enforcement of CRZ norms
Mired in allegations of politicisation and hampered by the lack of clarity about their mandates and responsibilities, the District Level Coastal Committees constituted by the State government have remained inactive over the past one year, posing a setback for better enforcement of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms in the State. The government had issued an order last year constituting the DLCCs to assist the State Costal Zone Management Authority (CZMA) in implementing the CRZ notification 2011. “There has been no effort to fix the role of DLCCs and in many districts, the constitution of the committees has remained on paper,” says A. Ramachandran, member, CZMA. “Considering the huge number of applications and complaints received by the State authority, the DLCCs could be of valuable assistance in carrying out field verification and speedy settlement of coastal zone disputes. There is an immediate need to activate the committees,” says Dr. Ramachandran. T. Peter, secretary, National Fishwokers Forum, said most of the members were nominated by the State government solely on political grounds. “Some of them are not even remotely associated with fishing.” He, however, feels that DLCCs could be an effective mechanism for monitoring violations and enforcing CRZ norms. *Only two panel meets* Sources in CZMA said only two out of the nine DLCCs had convened a meeting over the past one year. A high level official said the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests was yet to issue guidelines on the devolution of powers and responsibilities from the CZMA to DLCCs. The designation of ex-officio members to the CZMA and DLCC is also blamed for the poor functioning of the bodies. The Town Planning Officer who is the convener of the DLCC is often bogged down with enforcement of building rules and issue of permits, with little time to spare for his new role. “Eight of the 12 members of the State authority are also ex officio members with primary duties in other government departments and hence unable to devote attention and time to CRZ issues,” points out K.V. Thomas, former scientist, National Centre for Earth Science Studies . “It is imperative that both the CZMA and DLCC are equipped with a dedicated structure and team if they are to fulfil their mandate,” says Dr. Ramachandran. ------------------------------ - *MoEFs yet to issue norms on power devolution* - *Ex officio members unable to devote attention* - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send an email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.