KERALA COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY Vs. SUKHILESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The learned Single Judge, by the judgment dtd. 12/11/2020, quashed the permission granted by the Coastal Regulation Zone Authority to the Dharmadam Grama Panchayat to construct a public crematorium in a mangrove area. Despite the site lying in dense mangroves, Dharmadam Grama Panchayat has made a series of attempts to use it for a public crematorium. These Appeals filed under Sec. 5 of the Kerala High Court Act are an extension of the same effort, now joined by the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority.

(2.) Twenty cents of wetland in Re-Survey No. 4/3A in Dharmadam Village, Kannur District, contains a mangrove forest and falls under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) due to its ecologically sensitive and geomorphological characteristics. This land is owned by the Dharmadam Grama Panchayat. The Panchayat intends to construct a crematorium on the aforementioned land. For this purpose, it seeks to reclaim the land. Petitioner's case is that the Panchayat is proceeding to do so despite the prohibitions under the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008 (Act of 2008), and the Coastal Regulation Zone Notifications issued by the Government of India under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 (Act of 1986).

(3.) To contextualize the question raised in the petition, a brief reference to the statutory provisions is necessary. The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, was enacted to protect and improve the environment and related matters. Sec. 3 grants the Central Government wide powers to take measures deemed necessary or expedient for environmental protection. Sec. 3(2) further empowers the Central Government to include specific measures for environmental protection, including those related to coastal zones. Under Ss. 3(1) and 3(2)(v) of the Act of 1986, the Central Government issued a notification regulating activities in the coastal zone stretches, known as the Coastal Zone Regulation (CRZ). On 27/9/1996, the Coastal Zone Management Plan under the CRZ notification was approved and published. Subsequently, on 6/1/2011, the Central Government issued the CRZ Notification of 2011, superseding the 1991 notification. The Coastal Zone Management Plan under the CRZ Notification 2011 came into force on 28/2/2019.