Environmentalist Yadav Payeng has urged the Assam and central governments to reconsider plans to limit the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around Kaziranga National Park to just one kilometre, warning that such a narrow protective belt could leave wildlife without sufficient space during seasonal floods. Payeng made the appeal in a video shared on social media days after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state would press the Centre to adopt a scientifically determined 1 km ESZ around the park and its tiger reserve fringe.
Payeng said reducing the zone would create “serious challenges” for animals, particularly during annual floods when many species move out of Kaziranga toward the Karbi Anglong hills. He asked how displaced wildlife would find safe routes if development expands close to protected areas, stressing that human activity near the park demands careful environmental assessment.
“If within a 10 km radius, work is done up to just 1 km, then the wildlife there will face many problems,” Payeng warned, calling for greater caution before allowing development near the reserve. He described Kaziranga as “a national asset” whose ecological importance extends well beyond Assam and urged long-term strategies to reduce human–wildlife conflict and to safeguard animal movement during extreme weather events.
During a visit to Bokakhat on August 8, Chief Minister Sarma cautioned that the proposal should not be viewed merely as a “contraction.” He also said the current 10 km restriction is flawed because Kaziranga’s ESZ has not been finally notified, and the state intends to submit a science-based proposal to the central government within two months.
Legal complexities complicate the issue. A Gauhati High Court order dated March 12, 2026 noted that the Assam government has not submitted any final notification or draft proposal for Kaziranga’s ESZ to the Centre. As a result, the existing 10 km ESZ arrangement has remained in force, the court observed, while also referencing Supreme Court guidance that broad ESZ proposals may await finalisation.
The Supreme Court’s June 3, 2022 direction set a minimum 1 km ESZ around protected forests, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries; subsequent orders, however, have both provided for wider protective covers in some areas and modified aspects of the initial directions. The Union Ministry of Environment has similarly explained that ESZ proposals undergo scrutiny before any final notification is issued.
Payeng’s intervention highlights the tensions between administrative boundaries, development ambitions, legal safeguards and the ecological corridors Kaziranga’s wildlife rely upon. “Nature’s paths are made by nature,” he said. “There is no force greater than nature.”
Original Source: https://assam.nenow.in/environmentalist-jadav-payeng-warns-against-shrinking-kaziranga-esz-to-1-km/
Category: অসম,উত্তৰ-পূব,শীর্ষ সংবাদ
Tags:
Publish Date: 2026-08-14 09:41:00
