ORDER :

1. Leave granted.

2. Applications for intervention are allowed.

3. The appeals have been filed by the Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority aggrieved by the judgment and order dated 11.11.2016 passed by the High Court in Writ Appeal No.132 of 2013 and other connected appeals.

4. The appellant authority has been constituted by the Government of India in compliance with the directions issued by this Court in Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India [(1996) 5 SCC 281] as well as in the exercise of the powers conferred under Section 3 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986. The appellant authority is empowered to deal with the environmental issues relating to the notified Coastal Regulations Zones (in short, ‘CRZ’). Construction activities in the notified CRZ areas can be permitted only in consultation with and prior concurrence of the appellant authority. It is the binding duty of the local self-Government, the competent authority before issuing building permits to forward an application for building permission to the appellant authority along with the relevant record. The appellant authority has issued circulars to all Gram Panchayats, Municipalities, an