IMPORTANT POINT
Construction in ecologically sensitive CRZ I areas is prohibited, reaffirming the precedence of environmental protection laws over local development interests.

JUDGMENT :

Nitin Jamdar, C. J.

The learned Single Judge, by the judgment dated 12 November 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 Section 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. Section 3 grants the Central Government wide powers to take measures deemed necessary or expedient for environmental protection. Section 3(2) further empowers the Central Government to include specific measures for environmental protection, including those related to coastal zones. Under Sections 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 September 1996, the Coastal Zone Management Plan under the CRZ notification was approved and published. Subsequently, on 6 January 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 February 2019.

4. The CRZ notification classifies the Coastal Regulation Zones in different areas. CRZ – I is environmentally most critical and is subclassified as CRZ – IA, which constitutes ecologically sensitive areas and geomorphological features which play a role in the integrity of the coasts such as mangroves, coral reefs, sand dunes etc. The CRZ–IB lists intertidal zones. CRZ – II constitutes developed areas up to or close to the shoreline within the existing Municipal limits. CRZ – III are lands which are relatively undisturbed, and those do not fall under CRZ – I or II. CRZ – III is further classified into CRZ – A and CRZ – B. Coastal Regulation Zone notification prohibits certain activities within the CRZ. As regards CRZ IA, these areas are ecologically most sensitive and generally no activities are permitted in CRZ – IA except for certain exceptions. CRZ-AB lays down activities that are regulated and permissible. CRZ–III has fewer restrictions than the other CRZ–I and permits construction for various purposes, including a crematorium.

5. The District Collector, Kannur issued an order on 4 November 2011 stating that the subject land is a wetland and that filling it would be illegal. The Panchayat was directed to restore the land to its original condition. On 19 July 2013, the Secretary of the Panchayat submitted an application to the Coastal Regulation Zone Authority (the CRZ Authority) for the construction of a graveyard on the site. The proposal was discussed at the 68th meeting of the CRZ Authority on 15 December 2014, and the Authority decided to decline the construction as it fell under the category of CRZ I. This order was conveyed to the Panchayat on 19