ABOUT COASTAL REGULATION ZONE NORMS

• The Environment Ministry issued a notification in 1991 regulating development along coastal areas, stating that coastal land up to 500m from the High Tide Line (HTL) and a stage of 100m along banks of creeks, estuaries, backwater and rivers subject to tidal fluctuations, is called the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ). These zones were divided into four categories depending on their distance from coast and tide levels. • In 2011, the notification was modified. The dwelling units of the traditional coastal communities including fisherfolk, tribals could be regularised subject to they not being used for any commercial activity or being sold or transferred to non-traditional coastal communities. • The notification gave construction permissions for CRZ II areas towards the landward side as well as redevelopment of authorised structures, but within the permitted FSI limit.