Conservation vs community development: Assam's Kaziranga ESZ proposal sparks debate

By Nava Thakuria* 

As the Assam government plans to notify a site-specific eco-sensitive zone (ESZ, or ecologically fragile area) around Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, public debate has intensified in both mainstream and social media.

The proposed zone would extend from one to three kilometers from the existing park boundary, replacing the default 10 km limit currently in effect. The government says the move complies with directives from the Supreme Court of India. The issue gained wider public attention after opposition parties and wildlife experts held protest demonstrations against the plan.

Until now, the UNESCO World Heritage Site has not notified an ESZ boundary, so the default 10 km buffer continues to apply. Kaziranga shelters over 2,610 greater one-horned rhinoceroses—nearly 70% of the species' global population—within an ecosystem of wetlands, grasslands, and semi-evergreen forests shaped annually by floodwaters from the Brahmaputra river.

The debate intensified after Dispur announced plans to approach the Union government in New Delhi to reduce the Kaziranga ESZ buffer to a minimum of one km. Buffer zones around protected areas typically restrict major construction, urban expansion, and mining activity, on the grounds that such interventions can worsen human-wildlife conflict.

Kaziranga has no fencing or concrete boundary. During monsoon floods, animals often cross National Highway 715 (formerly NH-37) to reach the Karbi Anglong hills—a pattern cited by both sides of the debate, though drawing different conclusions from it.

Opposition parties and several environmental groups have criticized the proposal to reduce coverage below the existing 10 km limit. Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi said a reduced buffer zone would deprive wildlife of necessary protection. Leaders from the Communist Party of India also opposed the move and called for its withdrawal.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has defended the proposal, saying it complies with Supreme Court directives, which specify that an ESZ should extend at least one km from a protected area's boundary and may extend up to three km depending on circumstances. Sarma said no forest reserve elsewhere in the world maintains a 10 km ESZ, and argued that an ESZ is not meant to block tourism infrastructure but to regulate activities such as mining and polluting industries. He said the existing 10 km buffer would remain in force until a new ESZ limit is officially notified.

BJP state president Dilip Saikia and state minister Pijush Hazarika said the new ESZ notification would not dilute environmental protection efforts. They also pointed to the killing of over 235 rhinos during the tenure of a previous state forest minister, Rakibul Hussain, and accused the opposition of politicizing the issue ahead of elections. Congress leaders have rejected that characterization.

Some local residents have voiced support for a reduced, site-specific buffer zone, saying villages around Kaziranga face development constraints that limit livelihood opportunities. At a demonstration in Biswanath Ghat on August 21, thousands gathered in support of a reduced ESZ, arguing that conservation measures should not come at the cost of local livelihoods.

Protesters at that gathering also called for a comprehensive environmental impact assessment before any new ESZ perimeter is implemented, and said surrounding communities should be treated as stakeholders in decisions affecting the park.

Wildlife experts and conservation groups, meanwhile, have warned that a smaller buffer zone could increase pressure on the park's ecosystem and heighten the risk of human-wildlife conflict, particularly during flood season when animals move beyond the park's boundaries.

The matter remains unresolved, with the state government yet to formally notify the revised ESZ limit.

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*Senior journalist based in Guwahati