The National Coastal Management Authority (NCZMA) is a permanent institutional arrangement comprising 25 Members including Chairman and Member Secretary, out of which 23 Members are Ex-Officio Members.

In accordance with the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) is publicised widely, inviting suggestions and objections and a public hearing on the draft CZMP is also conducted at the district level by the concerned Coastal Zone Management Authority, prior to its final approval by the MoEFCC. The projects in CRZ areas are approved in accordance with the provisions of CZMPs and separate Public hearing for each individual project is not required.

The Ministry, vide notifications dated 30^th September 2022, empowered State Coastal Zone Management Authorities (SCZMAs) under Section 5, Section 10 and Section 19 of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 to enforce and monitor the provisions of the CRZ Notifications. The monitoring is thus done in co-ordination with SCZMAs. Further, the EC / CRZ clearance makes it mandatory for the Project Proponents to submit compliance status of the conditions to the concerned Regional Offices of the Ministry. The project proponents are required to take Consent to Establish / Consent to Operate approvals under the Air and Water Act from the respective State Pollution Control Boards / Pollution Control Committees, before commencement of the operation.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has established the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) to support the protection, conservation, rehabilitation, management and policy advice of the coast. In addition, there are other institutes of repute dedicated for coastal research and ecology like National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) etc.

This information was given by Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

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VM/GS

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