The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a 1156 crore rupee World Bank assisted Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Project. The special focus in the project will be identification and demarcation of coastal fragile areas like mangroves, brackish water wetlands, coral reefs, etc based on which a new category of ‘Critically Vulnerable Coastal Areas'(CVCAs) will be designated. <br/><br/>Appropriate management plans will be implemented for their preservation and regeneration. Briefing media the Environment Minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh said that the ICZM will cover mapping, delineation and demarcation of the hazard lines and delineation of the coastal sediment cells along the mainland coast of India; environmentally-sensitive areas that require protection, the setting up of a National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management at Anna University, Chennai; and a nation-wide training programme for coastal zone management. <br/><br/>The project is to be implemented over the next five years for which the World Bank contribution is in the mode of around 897 crore ruupees. The total number of direct beneficiaries of the project will be close to 15 lakhs, while the number of indirect beneficiaries could be as much as 6 crore.<br/>