Last updated: November 25, 2007

Resisting Coastal Invasion

More than 250 million people inhabit India’s coastline. Among them are the fishing communities, directly dependent for a living on marine and coastal natural resources.

Today, both coastal ecosystems as well as the customary rights of fishing communities over coastal areas are severely eroded by developmental activities and market interests - tourism, industrialization, sand mining, infrastructure-building, aquaculture and rapid urbanization.

The only piece of legislation ever enacted to regulate developmental activities along the Indian coast was the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification of 1991.

Not surprisingly, in today’s age of globalization, the CRZ Notification is increasingly being regarded as an impediment to free market. Moves are afoot to dispense with it altogether. What are the implications of such a deregulation agenda? Who benefits? Who loses? Who’s accountable? Who is to blame?

Resisting the Coastal Invasion is a 52 minute documentary directed by KP Sasi that explores these questions. It captures the struggles of fishing communities who are fighting tooth and nail against the takeover of their lands by the forces of globalization.