The government is planning a law to protect the fishermen's traditional rights, on the lines of the Forest Rights Act meant for the tribals, environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh has said.

The recommendations of the Swaminathan committee have been considered and draft legislation for Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) 2010 has already been drawn up, Ramesh told a press conference on Thursday.

The minister also said that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved a Rs 1,156 crore World Bank assisted Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Project. “This project is to be implemented over the next five years by the ministry. The World Bank’s contribution as soft loan/IDA credit is around Rs 897 crore,” he said.

Ramesh said the first phase of the project will begin with three coastal states: Gujarat, Orissa and West Bengal. He said that Gujarat is included in the first phase because a lot of developmental activities are going on the coast of the state.

“The ministry of environment and forests will be spending Rs 125 crore for mapping a hazard line along the 7500 km coastline of the country,” the minister said. He said that the hazard line will take shore line change, tides, waves and mean sea level rise into consideration. The mapping will be done over the next two years with the help of aerial photography and satellites by the Survey of India.

A National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management at Anna University, Chennai is also being established, Ramesh added.