India is set to prepare new rules to save its 7,517 km coastline after deciding to let a controversial notification under attack from the fishing community to lapse.

The decision came after Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told a delegation of fishermen here Thursday that existing regulations that date from 1991 would not be changed without consulting them. The fishermen's objection was to the draft of the coastal management zone (CMZ) notification of 2008, which they alleged would displace their settlements along the beaches and halt fishing near the coast.