“In order to bring in more and more accountability and transparency in the projects of Environment & Coastal Area Management, Public Private Partnership (PPP) will be encouraged.”, said Shri Jairam Ramesh, Hon. Minister of State (IC), Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India today while announcing the setting up of a National Centre for Marine Bio-diversity (NCMB) in Jamnagar with the sole objective of promoting different kinds of research activities in respect of coastal and marine eco-systems of the country. This activity will form a part of an ambitious Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZMP), which has been recently launched by the Ministry of Environment & Forests with World Bank assistance through Society for Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM) and which will be managed by Gujarat Ecology Commission, Gandhinagar under the Department of Forest & Environment, Government of Gujarat.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Jairam Ramesh said, “In a first of PPP partnership initiative, Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries will contribute 10 crores in setting up while MoEF as earmarked Rs. 20 crores for this NCMB project.” He however cautioned the partnering does not mean that they can pollute. “If any company is found violating any environment or regulatory law, they will be liable for legal action”. Citing example Mr. Ramesh said, “In Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, we have issued show-cause notices to many companies who were found polluting the environment.”

India has a long coastline of 7500 km. In the present context, due to many developmental activities which take place on coastal areas, the lives of these marine creatures have been jeopardized. In order to protect the coastal areas of the country and thus protecting rich marine bio-diversity of the country, Govt. of India in the Ministry of Environment & Forests has taken a step forward in setting up of a National Centre for Marine Bio-diversity (NCMB) in Jamnagar.

“NCMB is envisaged to cater to the various requirements which are to be fulfilled if the country’s coastal areas are to remain in good shape including uplifting of livelihood of coastal communities, which are also considered as a part and parcel of coastal eco-systems.” said Mr. S K Nanda, Principal Secretary Department of Forest & Environment Government of Gujarat.

“In addition to sustaining the human existence in these areas, the coastal marine eco-systems occupy a special significance in terms of harboring a variety of marine flora and fauna, which carry not only tourism value but they are intimately interwoven with the complex food chain from ecological point of view. Within Gujarat, the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZM) of which NCMB is a part, will be managed by the State Project Management Unit which is the Gujarat Ecology Commission.”, informed Mr E. Balagurusamy, Member Secretary, Gujarat Ecology Commission, Gandhinagar.

Out of the total coastline of India, about 22% (1650 km) is within Gujarat. This coastal stretch includes the Gulf of Kutch, Saurashtra coast, Gulf of Khambath and South Gujarat coast. The coastal and marine eco system plays very important and significant role in providing livelihood securities to the communities who are based on the coastal line.