Coastal zone management project initiated

DANDI - A Rs.1,200-crore project for integrated coastal zone management has been initiated for the first time in the country, with Gujarat, West Bengal and Orissa getting the lion’s share of the resource allocation in the first phase, Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh said here Wednesday.

Ramesh said Rs.300 crore each had been allocated to Gujarat and West Bengal. Orissa has got Rs.220 crore. “The Rs.25 crore Green Action for National Dandi Heritage Initiative(GANDHI) is part of this Gujarat project”, he added.

He said the central government had pitched in with 92 per cent of the funds for the project. Only eight per cent will be contributed by the states concerned. The World Bank has made available 77 per cent of the entire project cost as soft loan.

Ramesh also said Rs.200 crore had been allocated for setting up a National Institute for Sustainable Coastal Management at Anna University in Chennai. Eleven organisations, including the Gujarat Vidyapith, will assist the institute to implement the project.

He said the centre had also sanctioned Rs.200 crore for a survey of the country’s 7,500 km-long coast to identify the “hazard line”.

The two-year-long survey will help map out ecologically sensitive zones to protect some 30 crore people living in these areas.

He praised Gujarat for the restoration of mangroves in the state.