The recent action of the Tourism Department in Morjim, Goa (a state in western India) against a fisherman’s hut has raised questions amongst the fishing community as to why the ‘Fishermen Community Plan’ of the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) has not yet been approved by the State government.
They point out that this would ensure that their traditional units will be protected under the CRZ rules.
It may be recalled that in the last Assembly session, Environment Minister Nilesh Cabral, in a written reply, confirmed that the Fishing Community Plan, along with two other sub-plans, namely the Khazan Land Management Plan and Mangroves Management Plan had not been approved or incorporated in the final CZMP even though as per the CRZZ 2019 notification, these sub-plans have to be updated.
It is to be noted that the Fisherman Community Plan recommends regularisation of dwelling units constructed or permissible under CRZ 1991 notification on a case-to-case basis and also permits construction and reconstruction of dwelling units of traditional coastal communities between 100-200 metres of High Tide Line (HTL)
186 fishing wards falling within or adjacent with CRZ areas had been identified in this plan, which also permitted foreshore facilities for fishing and allied activities along the protected zones.
In addition to that, they refer to inspections that were carried out in Tourism Department land a couple of months ago in Goa- like the one in Colva, for example – and feel that the government should hand over such land on which the fishing community have their traditional huts on, to them.
They added that this has been an issue for years but the authorities seem to be keener on removing their huts from the beach to appease the interest of the hotel and real estate lobby. They lamented that their huts have been at the beach for decades and that their ancestors had used these huts and the trade was passed down from generation to generation.
They added that if the huts are removed, they will be deprived of essential facilities for their livelihoods, which would then lead to major financial losses and a logistical nightmare.
These huts are used by the fishermen community for storing nets and canoes and also for drying fish.