DEMARCATION OF HIGH TIDE LINE, LOW TIDE LINE

AND ISLAND COASTAL REGULATION ZONE FOR THE

SPONSORED BY

M/s FORTUNE RESORT BAY ISLAND

INSTITUTE OF REMOTE SENSING

FEBRUARY 2014
 DEMARCATION OF HIGH TIDE LINE, LOW TIDE LINE
AND ISLAND COASTAL REGULATION ZONE FOR THE
PROPOSED PROJECT AT PORTBLAIR,
ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS

ABSTRACT

On the request of the M/s Fortune Resort Bay Island, Port Blair a survey was

carried out to demarcate the High Tide Line and Coastal Regulation Zone for

the proposed extension activities of Fortune Resort Bay Island, Port Blair,

Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The satellite imagery of the study area was

interpreted for geomorphic features in the vicinity of the survey site. The

proposed site falls adjacent to Andaman Sea. The proposed site falls within

Port Blair municipal limits. The cadastral map of the Project Site, provided by

the client was used as the Base Map. Based on the topography, High Tide

Line has been identified and traced in the field by Kinematic GPS survey. The

High Tide Line was superimposed on to georeferenced cadastral map to

prepare a local level HTL map at 1:4,000. The boundary of proposed project

area was surveyed with GPS and shown on HTL Map. The project site layout

provided by the client was superimposed on to HTL map and enclosed. The

spherical co-ordinates of the High Tide Line in WGS84 system are presented

in the Annexure along with satellite imagery; field photographs of site for

reference.

Page 2 of 14
 DEMARCATION OF HIGH TIDE LINE, LOW TIDE LINE
AND ISLAND COASTAL REGULATION ZONE FOR THE
PROPOSED PROJECT AT PORTBLAIR,
ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS

1. INTRODUCTION

The coastal zone is the area of interaction between land and sea. The

coastal Zone of India has a very high concentration of population along with

ecologically sensitive areas like mangroves. There is a spurt of developmental

activities arising from huge residential colonies, new industries and tourism

centres along the coast and in coastal zone. There is a need to protect the

coastal environment while ensuring continuing production and development.

This zone is extremely vulnerable and has to be managed judiciously striking

a balance between ecological and developmental needs.

Government of India has issued a notification during February 1991

for regulating the developments along the coastal stretches of seas, bays,

estuaries, creeks, rivers and backwaters which are influenced by tidal action.

The land between 500 meters from the High Tide Line (HTL) and the Low

Tide Line (LTL) is identified as Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ). The coastal

stretches within CRZ are classified into four categories, namely, Category I

(CRZ-I), Category II (CRZ-II), Category III (CRZ-III) and Category IV (CRZ-

IV). The notification has also laid down regulations to regulate the various

activities in the coastal zone. The Ministry of Environment and Forests,

Government of India, has approved a set of CRZ maps on 1:25,000 scale

Page 3 of 14
prepared from SPOT satellite imagery. On these maps, zones are

demarcated as CRZ I, CRZ II and CRZ III, by respective state CZMA.

Coastal Regulation Zone I includes the zone between High Tide Line

and Low Tide Line. It also includes the areas that are ecologically sensitive

and important, such as national parks/marine parks, sanctuaries, reserve

forests, wildlife habitats, mangroves, corals/coral reefs, areas close to

breeding and spawning grounds of fish and other marine life, areas of

outstanding natural beauty/historically/heritage areas, areas rich in genetic

diversity, areas likely to be inundated due to rise in sea level consequent upon

global warming and such other areas as may be declared by the Central

Government or the concerned authorities at the State/Union Territory level

from time to time.

CRZ-II covers the areas that have already been developed up to or

close to the shoreline. For this purpose, the "developed area" is referred to as

that area within the municipal limits or in other legally designated urban areas

which are already substantially built up and have been provided with drainage

and approach roads and other infrastructural facilities, such as water supply

and sewerage mains. CRZ-III covers the areas that are relatively undisturbed

and those which do not belong to either Category-I or II. These include the

coastal zone in the rural areas (developed and undeveloped) and also areas

within municipal limits or in other legally designated urban areas which are not

substantially built up. CRZ-IV refers to the coastal stretches in the Andaman

and Nicobar, Lakshadweep and small islands other than those designated as

CRZ-I, CRZ-II or CRZ-III.

Page 4 of 14
 Central Government, with a view of providing livelihood security to the

local communities including the fisherfolk and tribals, promote conservation

and protection of Islands unique environment and its marine area and to

promote development through sustainable integrated management plan

based on scientific principles taking into account the vulnerability of the coast

to natural hazards, declared the coastal stretches of Middle Andaman, North

Andaman, South Andaman and Greater Nicobar and entire area of the other

islands of Andaman and Nicobar and the Lakshadweep and their water area

upto territorial water limit as the Islands Protection Zone (IPZ) and restricts the

areas from the setting up and expansion of any industry, operations or

processes and manufacture or handling or storage or disposal of hazardous

substances. In view of the large geographical area of the islands of Middle

Andaman, North Andaman, South Andaman and Greater Nicobar, these

islands shall be managed as per the Island Coastal Regulation Zone (ICRZ)

as per Islands Protection Zone Notification, 2011. The areas that are defined

as ICRZ as per Notification are

(i) The land area from High Tide Line (hereinafter referred to as the

HTL) to 500mts on the landward side along the sea front

(ii) ICRZ shall apply to the land area between HTL to 100 mts or width

of the creek whichever is less on the landward side along the tidal influenced

water bodies that are connected to the sea and the distance upto which

development along such tidal influenced water bodies is to be regulated

shall be governed by the distance upto which the tidal effects are

experienced which shall be determined based on salinity concentration of 5

Page 5 of 14
parts per thousand (ppt) measured during the driest period of the year and

distance upto which tidal effects are experienced shall be clearly identified

and demarcated accordingly in the ICRZ Plan.

(iii) Land area between HTL and Low Tide Line (LTL) which will be

termed as the intertidal zone;

(iv) The water and the bed area between the LTL to the territorial water

limit (12 Nm) in case of sea and the water and the bed area between LTL at

the bank to the LTL on the opposite side of the bank, of tidal influenced water

bodies.

The Classification of the ICRZ is also modified for the purpose of

conserving and protecting the coastal areas and marine waters as ICRZ – I,

ICRZ – II, ICRZ – III and ICRZ – IV. The ICRZ – I include the areas that are

ecologically sensitive and the geomorphological features which play a role in

the maintaining the integrity of the coast like (a) Mangroves(b) coral reefs (c)

Sand Beaches and Sand Dunes (d) Mudflats (e) Protected areas under Wild

Life Protection Act, 1972 (f) Salt Marshes (g) Turtle nesting grounds (h) Horse

shoe crabs habitats (i) Sea grass beds (j) Sea Weed Beds (k) Nesting

grounds of birds (l) fishing villages and areas of traditional rights and the area

between Low Tide Line and High Tide Line. The ICRZ-II includes areas that

have been developed upto or close to the shoreline. The CRZ-III includes

areas that are relatively undisturbed and those do not belong to either CRZ-I

or II, which include coastal zone in the rural areas (developed and

undeveloped) and also areas within municipal limits or in other legally

designated urban areas, which are not substantially built up. The CRZ-IV

Page 6 of 14
includes the water area from the Low Tide Line to twelve nautical miles on the

seaward side and the water area of the tidal influenced water body from the

mouth of the water body at the sea upto the influence of tide which is

measured as five parts per thousand during the driest season of the year.

The Ministry of Environment and Forest has also provided guidelines

for demarcation of High Tide Line in the IPZ Notification, 2011. ICRZ shall be

prepared in 1:25,000 scale map for macro level planning and 1:10,000 or

cadastral scale for micro level planning. HTL and LTL will be demarcated in

the cadastral map based on detailed physical verification using coastal

geomorphological signatures or features in accordance with the CZM Maps

approved by the Central Government. 500metre, 200metre buffers for

Sea/Ocean and 100m or width of creek (whichever is small) buffer for creek

shall be demarcated with respect to the HTL. In addition, a buffer of 50m for

mangrove need to indicated. In amendment to IPZ Notification issued on 22nd

August, 2013, the Ministry has indicated the NDZ for the development of eco-

tourism activities as 50 meters.

In order to facilitate classification of Coastal Regulation Zones

Government of India has approved few agencies/institutions across the

Country vide Lr. No. J17011/8/92-1A III, dated 04.01.1999 of Ministry of

Environment and Forests. Institute of Remote Sensing, Anna University being

one of them, has been carrying out HTL and LTL mapping following the

guidelines issued by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of

India.

Page 7 of 14
 2. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

M/s Fortune Resort Bay Island, Port Blair has requested Institute of

Remote Sensing, Anna University to demarcate High Tide Line, Low Tide Line

and Coastal Regulation Zone on 1:4,000 scale for their proposed project in

Port Blair. The Project site is located adjacent to Andaman Sea hence this

study was carried out to demarcate the HTL for Andaman Sea and setback

lines.

3. STUDY AREA AND EXTENT

The aforesaid project site is located in survey nos.1951/3 and 1951/12,

Port Blair, South Andaman District of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The project

is part of proposed extension activities of existing Hotel. The project was

located on sloping terrain. The satellite imagery of project area is enclosed for

reference. The project site is adjacent to Andaman Sea.

4. NEED FOR THE STUDY

The proposed project site has proximity to the Andaman Sea. It is in

this context, the proposed site needs to be evaluated to assess whether the

proposed site is falls under regulations of IPZ Notification, 2011. The objective

of the present study is to examine the proposed project in Port Blair with

reference to IPZ Notification. Keeping in view of the requirements of

notification, Institute of Remote Sensing, Anna University under took the

project with following agreed scope of work:

 Demarcation of HTL near project site by conducting field survey using

DGPS survey.

 Demarcation of ecologically sensitive entities such as Mangroves, Sand

dunes, Turtle breeding grounds in the vicinity of project site

Page 8 of 14
 Superimposition of Cadastral Map and Project Layout Plan on to the HTL

map

 Demarcation of Island Coastal Regulation Zone by marking100m, 200m

and 500m buffer line from High Tide Line in the neighbourhood of project

site.

5. DEMARCATION OF HTL ON THE LOCAL LEVEL MAP

5.1 Methodology adopted

The cadastral map of Project Site provided by the client has been used

as the base map. The Geomorphology of the Coastal Zone has been studied

from the temporal medium resolution satellite data. In order to prepare the

local level map on 1:4,000 scale, the site has been inspected by IRS

Scientists. Based on the geomorphic units, the high tide line has been

identified in the field and traced by field survey using GPS. The tide level

observations were collected from the Tide Tables and were interpolated

for Port Blair Port, which is the nearest port to the site. The highest high

tide level and lowest low tide level for the past 19 years was determined from

these tide tables.

As per the definition of high tide line, “The High Tide Line means the

line on the land up to which the highest water line reaches during the

spring tide”. There is a clear boundary between the areal spread of mudflats

and vegetation usually very much apparent. This boundary line coincides with

the HTL line interpreted from the satellite imagery. On the other hand LTL is

defined as the seaward limit to which the waves recede during low tide.

In case of inland waters such as creeks and backwaters, the ICRZ

guidelines indicates that the development along rivers, creeks, creek lets and

Page 9 of 14
backwaters has to be regulated up to a distance where the tidal effects are

experienced which has to be determined based on salinity concentration of 5

parts per thousand (ppt).

6. GPS SURVEYING

The Trimble 5700 and 4000 SSE (Geodetic Surveyor Series) GPS

receivers were used to conduct the surveying at the project site. The survey

involves three components namely, 1. Establishing Base Station, 2. Control

Survey for Village Maps and 3. Real Time Kinematic Survey for HTL

Demarcation.

6.1 Establishing Base Station

The survey involves establishing one base station for Static Survey.

The base stations were identified on stable locations with clear view of sky for

uninterrupted access to GPS satellite signals. The control point with known

elevation was used as initial reference station. The base station for the project

site was established on firm ground and observed with static GPS survey from

the known coordinates of the control point. The observations times were fixed

based on the length of base lines to obtain highest possible accuracies.

6.2 Static Survey

The conduct of Static Survey using GPS requires two GPS receivers,

one to be setup over the control point (with known co-ordinate) and another

one over a reference station whose coordinates and distance from the control

point are to be determined. Both these receivers must record data

simultaneously. These known co-ordinates of the control point were fed and

fixed for processing of the logged data to accurately determine the co-

ordinates of the base stations.

Page 10 of 14
 6.3 Control Survey for Georeferencing Village Maps

The cadastral map pertaining to the project site was provided by the

client. The hard copy cadastral map was scanned and georeferenced with the

help of GPS coordinates of boundary points provided by the client and used

for the preparation of local level HTL Maps.

6.4 Real Kinematic Survey for HTL Demarcation

Kinematic Surveying enables a very rapid survey of a number of base

lines in areas where there is good satellite visibility. At least, two GPS

receivers are required to perform a kinematic survey. One receiver is

designated as the reference receiver and is set up over the Base Station. All

baselines are measured relative to this station. The other receivers, called

rovers, are moved in succession to trace and record the HTL on ground

through ground profiling.

7. DEMARCATION OF HTL

Surrogate data such as Coastal Geomorphologic features identified

from the satellite imagery, indicators available on the ground and Tidal data

obtained from Port Blair Port Trust were used to verify the HTL demarcated by

Kinematic Survey.

8. OUTPUT

The observed baselines were processed using TGO software. The

same were plotted at large scale using the ArcGIS 9.3 software and the same

was superimposed in the georeferenced cadastral map. In the cadastral map

of 1:4,000 scale, the HTL for Andaman Sea and 100m,200m and 500m

Page 11 of 14
setback lines from HTL for Andaman Sea are marked (Map enclosed). The

processed HTL co-ordinates in WGS 84 system are presented in annexure.

The satellite imagery of project site is presented below for reference.

Figure 1 Satellite Imagery of the project site (Source: Google Earth)

Project Site

Page 12 of 14
Photo1 View of part of project site with existing structures

Photo2 View of Shore near proposed project site

Page 13 of 14
 ANNEXURE I

DEMARCATION OF HIGH TIDE LINE, LOW TIDE LINE

Point No Latitude Longitude

DIRECTOR, IRS

Page 14 of 14