Human Rights Forum (HRF) demands AP govt desist from dilution of CRZ norms

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Human Rights Forum (HRF) has strongly objected to Andhra Pradesh Tourism Minister Kandula Durgesh’s recent statement in the State Assembly, where he claimed that tourism development on the coast was being hindered by the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and that the government would seek relaxations in the CRZ to overcome this.
HRF State Executive Committee member K Sudha and HRF AP and TG Coordination Committee member VS Krishna stated that the CRZ notification, introduced in 1991, was designed to protect fragile coastal ecosystems and prevent the vandalism of beaches. However, over the past three decades, it has been repeatedly amended, largely due to pressure from real estate developers and project profiteers. “Time and again, economic interests were prioritised over ecological sustainability and conservation principles brazenly disrespected,” they added.
Successive state governments, whether led by the Congress, TDP, or YSRCP, have disregarded CRZ regulations and turned a blind eye to widespread violations along the coastline, HRF alleged. They accused the authorities of failing to invoke the CRZ appropriately to prevent the destruction of coastal ecology and the systematic degradation of the environment. The forum also claimed that governments had neglected the safety and livelihoods of local fishing communities in multiple locations. “Their hunger for implementing a destructive developmental model is unbridled, and they now seek a carte blanche to further pillage and devastate precious ecosystems by the coast. Tourism has to be sustainable; it must not ravage the commons,” the HRF team asserted.
HRF highlighted that the CRZ notification of 1991 has been amended 48 times over the years, not to protect the coast but to facilitate developmental activities. “The CRZ is perhaps the most amended delegated legislation in our country,” the forum noted. According to HRF, these revisions have weakened environmental protections, restricted access to fishing grounds, destroyed marine habitats, and degraded biodiversity hotspots and sensitive ecosystems. The amendments, they claimed, were implemented with minimal public consultation, despite appeals from fisher-folk, urban planners, coastal residents, environmentalists, and researchers.
HRF has demanded that the Andhra Pradesh government abandon its plan to seek further dilution of coastal regulatory norms and instead take concrete measures to respect and implement the CRZ in its true spirit.