Considering the need for proper shoreline management along coastal Karnataka, the Karnataka Maritime Board (KMB) has come out with a shoreline management plan.
Chatting with businessline on the sidelines of ‘Coastal Karnataka Tourism Workshop’ organised by the Karnataka Tourism Department in Mangaluru on Wednesday, Jayaram Raipura, Chief Executive Officer of KMB, said all these years ad-hoc corrective mechanisms were taken for issues such as soil erosion and coastal erosion.
The National Green Tribunal had suggested that the government go in for a detailed shoreline management plan rather than the ad-hoc mechanisms.
Following this, KMB had requested the Chennai-based National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) to suggest a shoreline management plan for the State. Based on studying the shoreline , NCSCM had recommended a shoreline management plan , and the Karnataka State Coastal Zone Management Authority (KSCZMA) has approved this, he said.
“We have to prepare solutions as per the shoreline management plan,” he said, adding, that the KMB is setting up three committees for preparing detailed project reports for Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts of coastal Karnataka. These committees will prepare solutions in accordance with the shoreline management plan.
KMB will start taking up all these coastal protection norms in accordance with the said DPR. Karnataka is the first State in the country to have a shoreline management plan, he said.
Addressing the workshop earlier, Raipura said KMB has envisaged to develop an international cruise terminal in Someshwara of Dakshina Kannada district.
A pre-feasibility report (PFR) for the proposed project has been prepared. Based on the recommendations as given in the PFR necessary technical studies shall shortly be undertaken for the preparation of the detailed project report.
The project is also being explored for assistance from the Sagarmala scheme of the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
Stating that Mangaluru is the best location for cruise tourism port, Raipura said an 18-metre draft facility is being planned for this cruise terminal.
He also highlighted other major projects of KMB on the occasion.