Why Assam wants to shrink Kaziranga National Park's eco-sensitive zone - explained
The Assam government has proposed cutting the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve from the currently applicable 10 km buffer to 1 km
A formal proposal is to be sent to the Union government seeking the reduction
The state cites the wider buffer as a constraint on civic and development projects, including a stadium project near the park
Kaziranga has never had a finally notified site-specific ESZ; the 10 km buffer operates only as an interim default
Conservationists have flagged risks to wildlife corridors and to animals displaced by seasonal flooding of the park's core area
Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) — legal and policy basis
An Eco-Sensitive Zone is a buffer area declared around a National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary, or other ecologically fragile area to act as a "shock absorber," regulating activities that could adversely impact the protected area. The concept is not defined in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 itself; ESZs are notified as "Ecologically Fragile Areas" under Section 3(2)(v) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, read with the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issued detailed Guidelines for declaring ESZs around Protected Areas in 2011.
Key Details
- Statutory basis: Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, Section 3(2)(v) — not the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
- 2011 MoEF&CC Guidelines lay down the process — state governments propose zone boundaries and permissible activities, which are then notified by the Centre
- Prohibited activities inside an ESZ typically include commercial mining, saw mills, and major hydroelectric projects; regulated activities include hotels, resorts, and tree felling
- No ESZ has a fixed statutory width — the width is meant to be site-specific, based on ecological sensitivity, though a 10 km default has commonly applied in the absence of a final notification
Kaziranga's ESZ has never been formally, finally notified — the 10 km figure Assam wants to shrink is an interim default, not a site-specific determination, which is central to the state's argument for revision.
Supreme Court's 2022 order on minimum ESZ width — In Re: T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India
This case originated as a 1995 public interest litigation on forest protection in the Nilgiris and was later expanded into a continuing mandamus covering forest and wildlife protection across India. In a judgment dated 3 June 2022, a three-judge Supreme Court bench directed that every National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in the country must have a minimum ESZ of 1 km measured from its demarcated boundary, applicable wherever a site-specific ESZ had not yet been notified.
Key Details
- Case: In Re: T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India, I.A. No. 1000 of 2003 in W.P. (C) No. 202 of 1995
- Judgment date: 3 June 2022; laid down a nationwide floor of 1 km, not a ceiling
- The Court later modified aspects of the blanket direction in 2023 after states flagged practical difficulties (for example, protected areas abutting dense urban settlements), allowing greater site-specific flexibility
- The order supplements, rather than replaces, the site-specific ESZ notification process under the 2011 Guidelines
Assam's proposal effectively seeks to invoke the Supreme Court's stated 1 km floor as the ceiling too, replacing the interim 10 km default that has applied around Kaziranga since earlier interim directions in this very case.
Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve — institutional profile
Kaziranga is a Category II Protected Area (National Park) under the IUCN classification and is also designated a Project Tiger reserve, combining core and buffer management. It holds the world's largest population of the Indian (great one-horned) rhinoceros and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985 under natural criteria.
Key Details
- Originated as a Reserve Forest in 1908; declared a National Park in 1974; declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006-07 under Project Tiger
- UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985
- Indian one-horned rhinoceros: IUCN Red List status — Vulnerable; listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (highest protection) and CITES Appendix I
- Kaziranga hosts the majority of the world's Indian rhino population, concentrated within its roughly 430 sq km core area
- Nine officially identified wildlife corridors connect Kaziranga to the Karbi Anglong Hills, used by animals — especially during monsoon flooding — that would extend beyond a 1 km buffer
The scale of the proposed reduction (10 km to 1 km) matters precisely because Kaziranga's core area floods every monsoon, pushing Schedule I species like the rhino, elephant, and tiger into the surrounding buffer and corridor lands that a narrower ESZ would no longer cover.
- Proposed ESZ reduction: from 10 km (current interim default) to 1 km
- Supreme Court's minimum ESZ direction: 1 km, via judgment dated 3 June 2022 in T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad
- Kaziranga declared National Park: 1974; declared Tiger Reserve: 2006-07; UNESCO World Heritage Site since: 1985
- Indian one-horned rhinoceros: IUCN status — Vulnerable; Schedule I, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
- Statutory basis for ESZ notification: Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, Section 3(2)(v)
- Number of identified wildlife corridors linking Kaziranga to Karbi Anglong Hills: nine