by Vijaylakshmi
Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said that state govt will make all efforts to protect the restaurant business in the coastal belt which had an excise licence and health approval issued prior to 1991.
Sawant held meetings with MLAs and other stakeholders to save their business which have come under the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ).
He said that state govt is in the process of finalising the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) 2019.
“I feel that those having an excise licence and health permission prior to 1991 to run a restaurant should get justice. I am clear on that. Those businesses should be protected,” Sawant said.
Sawant said that he will follow up with the Union govt, and if required any amendments, govt will make necessary changes.
Calangute MLA Michael Lobo said that once again when BJP will form the govt in Delhi, the Union minister for environment, forest and climate change should bring amendments to save businesses existing prior to 1991.
“Part commercial should be added by amending CRZ notification to resolve the issues. Now people have to go to the courts to save their businesses,” Lobo said.
After initial reluctance, the Chennai-based National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) has agreed to generate Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) 2011 maps on a 1:4,000 scale and pave the way for finalisation of CZMP 2019 for the state.
“We will try to solve the issue as soon as possible,” environment minister Aleixo Sequeira had said.
State govt has removed the discrepancies in the 2011 CZMP maps and submitted them to the NCSCM, Chennai, to carry out corrections in the plan to finalise the CZMP for 2019.
The NCSCM had said that they were required to revise the corresponding CZMP maps on 1:25,000 scale and submit the revised draft CZMP maps on 1:25,000 scale to the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) and not on 1:4,000 scale.
