Draft CRZ rules: Opening fragile coastal areas for real estate will affect ecology, fishing, says experts The draft notification is on the ministry's website and comments have been sought from the public within 60 days. The recently uploaded draft has evidently been drafted by "Delhi-based babus" who are "uneducated" about the sea and have never experienced its violent energy, Chennai-based writer and social activist Nityanand Jayaraman, said. Beaches, mangroves and coastal wetlands, and maintaining a respectful distance from the sea are the real defences against nature's fury, Jayaraman said. "This is the time to be retreating from the sea and protecting what remains of our coastal wetlands. The 2011 notification, while not perfect, intended to do all this. It introduced the concept of a Hazard Line - a line drawn accounting for future sea level rise, and the action of waves, wind and tides. "Areas between the High Tide Line and the Hazard Line are vulnerable; the 2011 notification severely restricts development within this area. The 2018 draft does away with those restrictions" he said. https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/draft-crz-rules-opening-fragile-coastal-areas-for-real-estate-will-affect-ecology-fishing-says-experts-2554695.html