Karnataka hitches star to coastal travel bandwagon

BENGALURU:  Beach tourism is set to get a boost in Karnataka, with the Coastal Zonal Management Plan (CZMP) and modified Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules getting the stamp of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

The tourism department is now working to make the most of the modifications in coastal zone guidelines, which allow temporary structures like shacks to come up along the coast. These were earlier not permitted, and are bound to give Goa and Kerala some tough competition.

The regulations clearly define the conservation areas, list out vulnerable sections in special categories, besides area-wise development zones, like CRZ of 50 metres between land and high tide line. They also permit undertaking of repairs and tourism. “It helps in conservation and also gives flexibility,” environment department officials said. Karnataka is the first state in South India and the second in India, after Odisha, to have a CZMP approved by the central government, a senior environment department official told The New Indian Express. Goa and Kerala still do not have a CZMP.

“We had earlier drafted the coastal tourism plan on the lines of Kerala and Goa, but now we’ll be miles ahead as the environment department has a clear plan. We have also approached the department to approve our notification,” said a senior tourism official.

The tourism department, which has decided to extend its tourism policy by a year, from 2020-2025 to 2026, to make up for the pandemic losses, has included these modifications to boost coastal tourism.

The department will release its revised tourism policy on September 28, a day after Tourism Day on September 27, with the theme ‘Rethinking Tourism’, and focuses on subsidy schemes for setting up tourism infrastructure.