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Near Mukki Gate of Kanha National Park
(Kanha Tiger Reserve)
Madhya Pradesh, India.+91 9111003371 [email protected]
http://www.baghvillas.comADVTENVIRONMENT IMPACT ASSESSMENT(EIA)
REPORT FOR THE COASTAL ROAD
Every infrastructure project, especially projects requiring
an environment clearance (EC) from such departments
(appellate or central), requires a detailed Environment
Impact Assessment report stating the biodiversity present
in the area and the impact the project would have on the
biodiversity and its habitat.
The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report
for the Coastal Road Project was released in 2016. The
report lists only a handful marine-intertidal species. The
report is scientifically and legally loose ended and the facts
mentioned are listed as discretionary assumptions.
The report has been used as a basis for the Environment
Clearance for the Coastal Road by the Ministry of
Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
Policy protections for the Marine Wildlife and
Safeguarding the coast exists under the Coastal Regulation
Notifications (CRZ), 2011 and Wildlife (Protection)Act, 1972.
However, the coast requires to be understood and studied
deeper to safeguard it from unsustainable developments
and its preservation for the future generations.
By Sarita Fernandesin 2015, fi nds that water logging in the region ‘is essentially a
compounded impact of heavy rainfall and high tides together’.
The 2006 Flood Fact Finding report of the Maharashtra State
Government, pointed out fl oods ensue when ‘moderate intensity
rainfall takes place close to the high tide period’. Finally, the
Environmental Impact Assessment of the Coastal Road Project
itself stated, ‘The problem of fl ooding is acute when heavy
rainfall coincides with high tide’, which according to the report is
approximately 20 times every monsoon. ‘If the rain intensity is
more than 25 mm. per hour and high tide occurs, there is always a
possibility of fl ooding’ (Coastal Road Drainage Report).”
These refer only to the current fl ooding problems, not
accounting for climate change, or the rise in the yearly rainfall in
the city.
In the face of these challenges, what good can something as
simple as shore walks do? They can strengthen our weakened
connection with the ocean, and the coastal identity of the city we
inhabit. Two years on, I am now a familiar of that space, no longer
uncertain of in fi nding my footing among the sharp-as-knives
open oyster shells and barnacles.
I take my lessons from the way the tide behaves, how it fl ows
around obstacles when it should, how it retreats when it must.
I know instinctively what lives where, who feeds on whom and
how to keep my distance, and yet have an enthusiastic one-sided
conversation with these fellow citizens. It has aroused empathy