CO/15T/1L ZONE nflrMQEriENT PLAN FOR TAMILNADU ENVIRONMENT & FOREST DKPARTMENT f'iil.<nh 0 flq niashwargm <s»u»f of iwnnor rJi>l(Gor<M Indian ocewti PREPARED BY DIRECTORATE OF TOWN AND COUN TRY PLANNING GOVERNMEN T OF TAMILNADU MADRAS - 600 002 JUNE 1996 COrtSlYlL ZOI1E n/IMrtQEfUCflT Vldli TOR TAMILNADU ENVIRONMENT & FOREST DEPARTMENT tc\J» <autf . ®f «mr»nar rJV>l(Gortn x\yt% Indian ob««M PREPARED BY DIRECTORATE OF TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING GOVERNMEN T OF TAMILNADU MADRAS - 600 002 JUNK 1996 CONTENTS Page No, Executive Summary 1 Recommendations il CHAPTER 1 1-43 Physical Setting of Tamil Nadu Coast Geo]ogy Geomorphology Climate Resources N Wave CIimate and Coasta] Response Socio Economic Conditions of Tamil Nadu Coast Popul ation Occupation Other Major facilities Devel opment Scenerio of Tamil Nadu Coast Coastal erosion Ports and Harbours Pol 1 ution Aquaculture CHAPTER 2 44 - 48 Base Maps for the preparation of Coastal Zone Management PI an of Tamil Nadu x. Coastal Water Bodies Categorisation of CRZ CHAPTER 3 49-91 Coastal Regulatlon Zone ANNEXURES Coastal Zone Management PI an Maps of Tamil Nadu (31Maps-Reduced) Coastal Regulation Zone Plan for MMDA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Government of India by their Gazette Notification dated 20.2.1991 declared the Coastal stretches of seas, bays, estuaries, creeks, rivers and backwaters which are influenced by Tidal Action (in the landward side, upto 500 metres from the High Tide Line and the 1 anc between the Low Tide Line and the High Tide Line as Coastal Regulation Zone and imposed certain conditions. The respective State Governments and Union Territories were directed to prepare Coastal Zone Management PI an with High Tide Line 500 metres regulation line other boundaries and different categories of coastal areas for the approval of Ministry of Environment ana Forest. This report presents the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZM) of Tamil Nadu. A description of the regu- lation zone ana its categories are given in this report A reduced version of 30 original 1:25,000 scale plates are included in the report. The recommendation emerging out of this exercise are given overleaf. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. For regulating activities in the Co.astal Areas as per the ministry of Environment and Forest Notificationj the Coastal Zone Management Plans fCZMP) prepared for the entire Tamil Nadu Coast ^ay be used. 2. The 500 metre and 200 metre lines from High Tide nine has been used as per the maps produced by Institute of Remote Sensing, Anna University,and has to be established with reference to physical j and marks. 3. For detailed planning of the Coastal Regulation Zone and adjoining areas, it may be necessary to use cadastral scale (1:4000) maps. In such cases, the regulation 1ines given in the present maps (1:25,000 scale)may be considered as a general guideline. 4. The associated features of the sea, like creeks, backwaters, tidal action on rivers, swamps etc., have been taken as furnished by the Institute of Remote Sensing and if found different while preparing the maps as per Hydrographic maps to be rcade available by Chief Hydrographer. say be altered with prior permission of Ministry of Environment and Forest. 5. As mentioned in the Notification, an appropriate Authority may be entrusted with the responsibility. oi implementing the regulation and for undertaking Coastal Area Planning and Development. c CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 1_ A. Physical Setting of Tamil Nadu Coast Geo! op,y Tamil Nadu Coast is punctuated by a number of interesting 1 andforms starting from tbe brackish water Pulicat. Lake in the North to the rocky coast of Kanya- kumari in the South. Many other features, such as mud flats, sandy beaches, mangroves, marsh, delta, creeks, palaco beach ridges etc., are present along the coast. The coast line of Tamil Nadu from Pulicat in the North to Kanyakumari in the South is over a thousand kilometers 1 ong. Geologically, the east coast is the edge of a ' gradually falling landscape with water. The slopes are extremely flat in the entire Tamil Nadu Coast on the landward side and the same is generally true on the seaward side as wel1. Except for a ?syste» of off- shore trenches off Porto Novo and Karaikkal , the continental shelf is of gradual slope. It is very shallow in the Pal k-strait-Gulf of Mannar area, where the sheltered waters sport a thriving coral reef and is a barefly submerged land bridge along the chain of islets referred appropriately as Adam's bridge between Indian Coast, and Sri] ankan Coast. The seaward and landward sides also exhibit very few rock out crops. Indeed the only noticeable ones are at Manal 1 apuram, just south of Madras. The geology of Peninsular India is basically Archean gneisses. Sedimentary load In this coast is mainly by Peninsular rivers, particularly the Cauvery delta. The alluvium deposited by the other rivers,Pal ar, Gadilam, Vaigai and Tambaraparani are not very heavy in comparison. The coastal zone is almost entirely aranatious coarse and fine sand. It is mostly sterile with little or no organic matter and supporting little vegetation, save odd thorny bushes except in mangrove swamps. The sand zone is a fl at broad pi ain for a width varying from 200 ra. tc 300 m. in most stretches, while going upto 500 ra, at others. However it builds up into dunes near Cuddalore and dune formation is extensive'" in the southern half /of the coast from Raiaanathapurara coast upto Kanniyakunari Coast. In fact this reaches very significant levels in Tirunelveli Coast around Tisaiyanvil ai and Uvary. Geomorphology: In the north, near Pul icat range, three strand lines, with intervening broad tidal falts occur in the coastal plains. Lagoons, Mangrove swamps, salt marshes, estuaries, creeks, barrier, dunes, spits and beach terraces represent the marine 1 andforras. Major Georaorphic features of the coastal tract consists of an upland plain(Fluvio erosional ), Flood plain (Fluvio-depositional ), deltaic plain (Fluvio-Marine) and coastal plain (Marine). A large part of the deltaic area of the coast is occupied by interdistributory flood basins, comprising brown and reddish grey sil ty clay and fine sands. The coast near Mandapam is a huge cuspate foreland and continuation to this is Rameswaram Island which is built over a platform of quatenary sand stone end coral reefs. The Geonorphic features figurijjgon the southern extremity of the coast along Tuticorin and Kanniyakumari are beach, coastal lowlands, coastal plains, wave cut platforms, cl iff ed coast and cape. Cl imate: The meteorological aspect of the coastal zone is interesting. The normal wind speeds are not excessive, •but are sufficiently breezy. The rainfall on this coast is'mainly due to the returning monsoon from north-west during October-Decesber seasons. The southern tip of Kanniyakumari coast however is the en!y portion of the Inxiiar larici-mass to receive both the monsoons and has preci.p'-tat. ions upto 250 cms. The rainfall elsewhere vcir-'e:i-. from a moderate ICG cms. at the northern end of Macirai^-Pondicherry coast to about 150 cms. at Thanjavur coast: . Further it rapidly declines, being in the shadow ; of 3r 5 1 ankan 1 andmass to leave che Ramanathapuram- Ti rune.i vel i coast mostly dry. Resources: Ground Water Resources: Ground water is a most valuable resource for ajsri.cj tural ana industrial development ana caters to 40° oi the total irrigated area in Tamil Nadu. The ground water potential of the coast is est-i rmced based on the rainfall, recharge etc. Ground wa~e-T is extracted along the coastal blocks for different uses :iuch as for drinking, domestic, industrial ana agri cui tural purposes . The ground water extraction has beer1 extensive in the districts of Cftengai-MGR. South Arcot, T&isror.vur and moderate in other southern coastal districts. In the Coastaj stretch of Tamil Nadu generally fousr different aquifer. systems have been identified,viz., waiter table, filter peine, shallow and deep acqutfer system f j^'nea mainly on the coastal sand dunes largely caters t.c rile needs of the people along the coast for both domestic ar-v agricultural purposes. The Chemical quality of ground water along the cc- varies from place to place depending on1 1 : choi ogy. r: -.fill, topography ana affect of sea—-iter intrusion. In the coastal tract, vide variation occurs in tne c - scceri sti c of fresh water and saline aquifers depending o^ the hydrogeol ogi cal situation. The danger of oossible Si - ^ater intrusion into coast-ai aquifers needs continuous ir.;»* i-oring. Mineral Resources In the area around Pul icat and Gummidipoondi the occurrence of lime shells, salt and silican sands are very much noticed. Coastal areas rich in Monozite, IImnite Zircon Grnet etc. Tamil Nadu Coastal sands are also a significant source of many minerals of the Titanium-Zircon-Thorium group. These occur in significant quantities in the southern extremes around Manavalakkurichi in Kanniyakumari coast. Oil and Natural Gas Resources The Tamil Nadu coast from Pondicherry to Rameswaram has been identified as the potential area for exploration of Oil.and Natural Gta Commission has been conducting its operations in this area. There has been substantial finds of Oil both on land and off shore areas of the Cauvery Basin. VJave Climate and Coastal Response During the monsoons the coast is very vulnerable to cyclones which occur with regular frequency bringing in wind speed, upto 200 kmph and tieds upto 10 metres. The surf is very active with a normal tide of a metre. There is a strong 1 itteral drift in the northern part of the coast.