Restrictions imposed; 66 villages in Kerala to receive CRZ regulations

In a major setback to fishing communities in Kerala, the central government agreed to relax CRZ regulations for 66 villages in eight districts. Coastal Management Authority agreed to the demands tabled by the Kerala government.
As per the CRZ regulations, the villages which fall in the third category of CRZ areas (CR III), which places restrictions on natives in undertaking construction works in these areas will change to CRZ-II.

In CRZ-II, there is no such restriction for undertaking construction work. However, the central government has set some conditions for this change. A disaster management authority plan should be introduced in all 66 panchayats. Meanwhile, Panchayats surveyed and identified as having mineral deposits by the Department of Atomic Energy will not be allowed to be shifted from CRZ-3 to CRZ-2.

Since 2011, Kerala has been demanding that 175 panchayats in the CRZ III category be transferred to the second category. Following this, the demand was agreed to change 66 panchayats in Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Kannur, Kasaragod, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur districts.