Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said the state government’s move to reduce the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) from 10 km to 1 km would follow Supreme Court guidelines.
Political Context
He stated that it was needed for development activities in the area, including constructing a stadium. The Assam government’s proposal to reduce the ESZ has evoked negative reactions from wildlife activists and conservationists in the state. “Kaziranga is not just Assam’s pride, but its a world heritage site.
On August 8, the CM had commented that the ESZ around the UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is the largest habitat of the endangered one-horned rhinos, was 10 km ‘by default’ and the Assam government would send a proposal to the Centre within two months to reduce the limit to 1 km. “The SC itself had stated that the ESZ would be of 1 km. But till the state government’s doesn’t notify the ESZ, the limit of that zone would be 10 km. Once the state notifies the ESZ properly, it will come down to 1 km, which is what the apex court had specified,” Sarma said. “Supreme Court in its earlier judgement has made it very clear that if a national park doesn’t declare ESZ, then the apex court will assume ESZ is up to 10 km from park boundary. Further the apex court in its June 2022 judgement held that every national park and wildlife sanctuary must have a mandatory ESZ of atleast 1 KM from demarcated boundary,” said Bibhab Talukdar, secretary general of Aaranyak, a wildlife conservation organisation.
The proposal, if implemented would have a drastic effect on wildlife in the national park,” said Jadav Payeng, wildlife conservationist.
