Panaji, June 2 (IANS) Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat has said that he will speak to chief ministers of other coastal states for a collective solution to safeguard nearly 2,500 homes within the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) that are facing demolition in the state.
Kamat told IANS that he would speak to chief ministers of other coastal states to find a way out of the conundrum after the Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court ordered the demolition of 2,500 homes falling within the CRZ, which is 200 metres of the high tide line.

“We will write to the chief ministers of other coastal states to find a solution. They may be facing similar problems. We are trying to find a solution so that people’s houses in the coastal belt can be saved,” Kamat said, adding that he would also be taking up the matter with Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh.

Kamat also said that the state had engaged noted lawyers like Fali Nariman and Shyam Divan in order to find a way out of the issue.

With all houses built within the CRZ area after 1991 set to be demolished following the high court order, the issue dogged the election manifesto of every political party.

Several of the structures facing demolition are located along the sea on prime coastal real estate and are owned by powerful locals and politicians.

The state law commission has already expressed helplessness with its chairman Ramakant Khalap, former minister of state for law, stating that it was impossible for the state government to find a legal solution to the problem.

“It is a central legislation. We cannot see any way how a state government can find a solution to this problem,” Khalap said.