The ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF&CC) has issued an office memorandum for regularizing those constructions for which environmental clearance is needed and have not obtained coastal regulation zone (CRZ) clearance yet.
The order is issued in view of earlier directives issued by the Supreme Court in its judgments dated November 28, 2014 and April 1, 2020 for constructions which have been done with temporary licence or without CRZ permission.
The office order sent by Sujit Kumar Bajpayee, joint secretary, MoEF&CC, to all coastal states says that it is necessary to establish a process of appraisal of such cases of violation arising due to not obtaining prior clearance for permissible activities in CRZ areas. This order is mainly for projects which need environmental clearance and could mostly include urban building projects or commercial ventures above Rs 10 crore.
All activities which are otherwise permissible under CRZ notification but have commenced construction without prior clearance would be considered for prospective clearance wherein documents, including CRZ map, marine EIA report or terrestrial EIA report and nod from state pollution control board (SPCB), are required. The CZMA has been asked to assess damages caused by such an action and give specific recommendations to be taken up within a period of three years from date of clearance under compensatory conservation plan and a community resource augmentation plan.
The CZMA should also certify that there is no violation of norms. Then they should apply for MoEF clearance in Parivesh online portal with all documents. The CZMA or state environment department should oversee implementation of conservation plans.
“ The state should seek the permission of the central government to regularize those constructions, at least residential buildings,” said senior high court lawyer P B Sahasranaman.
