A new draft is now available and pertains to the Management of Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for projects in India’s coastal areas, as formulated by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

The draft plan prescribes the measures that coastal states have to adopt while considering and sanctioning projects in the coastal region. It will assist and evaluate infrastructure projects before they can gain a green light.

The draft plan is part of a World Bank-funded project. The project aims to help the Government of India improve coastal resources and resilience. It wants to build shared abilities to make and use plans for managing coastal zones together.

Read More: O-SMART Scheme: An Overview Of Strengthening The Capacity Of The Indian Ocean For Sustainable Development

Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan

The Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (ICZM) manages coasts in a way that considers everything in the coastal area together. This includes natural borders and political borders. The goal is to make coasts sustainable.

The idea started in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Details about ICZM are in Agenda 21 from the summit.

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Implementation Of ICZMP

The World Bank helps with this project. The Department of Forests and Environment does the work with help from India's Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

The National Center for Sustainable Coastal Management in Chennai provides science and technical support.

What Are The Goals?

Below are the important goals of ICZMP:-

• Drafting the State’s Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan: Formulating measures to address and here-off prevent the loss of more states’ coasts.

• To save the coast from further grain: Checking further loss of the coastline due to erosion.

• Reduce the risks of disasters: Reducing the chance of natural disasters affecting the coasts and in turn the overall area.

• Conservation of biodiversity: Protection of the diversification of plants and animal species within the coastal areas.

• Security of livelihood: Protect its people’s ability to earn a living from the coastal resources.

• Control and maintenance of pollution and environmental quality: Pollution control to maintain a favourable environment along the coastal area.

• Proper conservation and promotion of artistic as well as archaeological materials: Promoting and conserving the cultural and heritage resources on the coastline.

Components Of Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan

The Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM) will implement the project at the national and state levels.

So far, three coastal states have been selected for the ICZM plan: West Bengal, Gujarat and Orissa.

Some of the chief components of the plan are the National Coastal Zone Management Program,

ICZM for West Bengal, ICZM for Orissa, and ICZM for Gujarat.

• The National Coastal Zone Management Program will map, identify, and mark hazard lines. It will also identify coastal sediment cells along all of mainland India's coast.

• The ICZM approaches in Gujarat, Orissa, and West Bengal will help build the abilities of state-level groups and organizations. This includes making an ICZM plan for each coastal sediment cell area. It also includes regional coastal process studies and pilot investments.

Read More: PESA And Forest Conservation: A Detailed Study

Conclusion

The Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (ICZMP) is an important plan towards the combined and sustainable development of India’s coastal areas. Environmental, Social and Economic, the goal of the ICZMP is to conserve the coastal environment and shorelines, make them resilient to disasters, combat coastal erosion and support livelihoods.

In this social project, the MoEF&CC, state governments, as well as international organisations such as the World Bank, are involved – that is the conservation-development interface. As the plan is initiated in the pilot states of West Bengal, Gujarat and Orissa in the years ahead, it can go a long way to provide a model for how India’s coastal environment can be used sustainably for the benefit of generations to come.

For detailed info and valuable sources, do visit the official website of the government by clicking here.