‘Stop constructions under CRZ’

Deccan Chronicle:Saturday, February 04, 2012.

Former bureaucrat and the convenor of Forum for Better Visakha, Mr E.A.S. Sarma, demanded on Friday that authorities of the Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) immediately take measures to stop construction activity taken up in the prohibited area under the CRZ. “Construction activity has been undertaken within the prohibited area. Several mangroves have been uprooted, mudflats have been irreversibly disturbed. This constitutes an offence under the CRZ notification,” observed Mr Sarma and added that according to information obtained by him in an earlier occasion under the RTI from the VPT office, the entire port area was co-vered under CRZ II and 40 acres were within CRZ I. In the CRZ I area, there are mangroves and mud flats which, as per the CRZ notification of 2011, should not be disturbed under any circumstance. He added that the port was not only required to protect the mangroves but also leave a safe buffer. “Even if you have leased out the land, you have the primary responsibility of protecting the mangroves. VPT authorities should immediately take steps to stop these works, failing which we will be constrained to file a case under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and CRZ Notification of 2011,” he pointed.