The recent announcement by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma regarding the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve has triggered sharp criticism from activists, environmentalists and opposition parties. It is being claimed that the Assam govt is reducing the eco-sensitive zone around the national park from 10 km to 1 km, and has termed the decision as one that will have a drastic effect on the National Park. The Congress party has made its familiar allegation that the decision has been made to benefit industrialists.
At the same time, the state government maintains that its proposal is fully in line with Supreme Court directions and is necessary to balance conservation with the legitimate development needs of local people. The state government is in a strong legal position as the decision follows Supreme Court orders, and it is required for the development of the region. On the other hand, the opposition of the Congress party exposes its double standards on the issue.
Criticisms by activists, Congress and others
Environmental activists and opposition leaders have strongly opposed the Assam government’s plan to notify a 1 km ESZ around Kaziranga instead of continuing with the default 10 km buffer. They argue that shrinking the protective zone will endanger wildlife corridors, especially those used by rhinos, elephants and other animals during the annual floods when they move to higher ground in the Karbi Anglong hills.
Conservationist Jadav Payeng, popularly known as the Forest Man of India, has warned that reducing the ESZ would have a drastic effect on wildlife. He pointed out that animals need free movement during floods and could get trapped if the buffer is narrowed. Golaghat-based environmental journalist and activist Apurba Ballav Goswami described the move as a serious threat to the one-horned rhino, the pride of Assam. Activist Dilip Nath called it a potential violation of the Supreme Court’s 2022 directions. Journalist Madhusree Goswami accused the Himanta-led government of being “hell-bent on destroying the ecology” around the park.
The Congress party and others have also linked the proposal to ongoing controversies over luxury hotel projects (including proposed Hyatt and Taj Hotels) near the park and the arrest of indigenous rights activist Pranab Doley under the National Security Act. They claim the reduction of the ESZ is intended to clear the path for commercial tourism and other development at the cost of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee posted on X on 12 August 2026: “First, they slapped the NSA on an activist protesting a luxury hotel project near #Kaziranga National Park. Now, there is a proposal by the Assam Government to reduce Kaziranga’s Eco-Sensitive Zone (#ESZ) from 10 km to just 1 km. The connection is hard to miss. No prizes for guessing who benefits when environmental safeguards are weakened.”
First, they slapped the NSA on an activist protesting a luxury hotel project near #Kaziranga National Park.
— Assam Congress (@INCAssam) August 12, 2026
Now, there is a proposal by the Assam Government to reduce Kaziranga’s Eco-Sensitive Zone ( #ESZ ) from 10 km to just 1 km.
The connection is hard to miss.
No prizes for…
The party even called the ESZ notification an ‘eviction notice to animals’. In a video posted on X, the party claimed that Assam does not need infrastructure like stadiums, asking “Now they are bringing stadiums and what not, for what purpose.”
Welcome to Assam — where not just humans, but even wild animals, including the state animal, are handed eviction notices. #SaveKaziranga pic.twitter.com/9bZrsVGsUG
— Assam Congress (@INCAssam) August 12, 2026
Assam Congress president and MP Gaurav Gogoi had earlier criticised the BJP government for allowing hotels to come up at the major tourist spots like the Kaziranga National Park. Other opposition voices, including Raijor Dal’s Akhil Gogoi, have framed the entire episode—arrests, hotel projects and now the ESZ proposal—as an attack on indigenous communities and environmental protection. Some posts have used hashtags such as #SaveKaziranga and accused the government of environmental vandalism for the benefit of private developers.
The legal position: What the Supreme Court actually said
The criticism that the Assam government is “reducing” an existing 10 km zone is factually incorrect. Kaziranga does not yet have a finally notified ESZ. In the absence of a site-specific notification by the Central government based on the state’s proposal, a default 10 km buffer continues to operate as an interim measure. This is the position with Kaziranga, as it does not have a notified ESZ, the default zone is 10 km. But the Supreme Court has said that when such a zone is notified, it will be of 1 km only.
On 3 June 2022, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court (Justices L. Nageswara Rao, B.R. Gavai and Aniruddha Bose) in the T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad case directed that every national park and wildlife sanctuary must have a minimum Eco-Sensitive Zone of one kilometre measured from the demarcated boundary. The Court held that the activities prohibited and regulated under the Ministry of Environment and Forests Guidelines issued in February 2011 must be strictly followed in this zone. Mining inside the ESZ of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries was completely barred.
Importantly, the Court also said that where a wider ESZ had already been prescribed under law, the wider margin would prevail. Where a proposal for a wider zone was pending, the proposed wider zone would be maintained until a final decision. Crucially, for those protected areas where the state had not yet submitted a proper proposal and no notification existed, an earlier interim direction of a 10 km buffer would continue to apply as a default.
In subsequent orders, particularly in April 2023, the Supreme Court modified certain aspects of the 2022 directions. It recognised that a rigid, uniform one-kilometre rule was difficult to implement because millions of people live around protected areas. The Court clarified that the mandatory minimum one-kilometre direction would not apply in the same way where draft or final notifications had already been issued by the MoEF&CC, or in cases of inter-state borders. It maintained a strict ban on mining within one kilometre of the boundary of a national park or sanctuary. At the same time, it allowed existing activities that were not in the prohibited list under the 2011 Guidelines to continue with the permission of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests. The Court also indicated that the minimum width could be diluted in cases of overwhelming public interest after proper recommendations from the Central Empowered Committee and the Ministry.
In short, the Supreme Court has never mandated a permanent 10 km ESZ for every protected area. It has set a minimum of 1 km, allowed site-specific determination, and kept the 10 km as a temporary default only until the state proposes and the Centre notifies a proper ESZ. The Assam government is therefore acting within the framework of the Court’s orders by preparing a proposal for a scientifically determined 1 km ESZ and submitting it to the Centre for notification. Moreover, it can be extended to 3 km in sensitive stretches if required.
What Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has repeatedly clarified that the government is not reducing an already notified zone. On 12 August 2026, he stated: “The Supreme Court said the ESZ can be 1 km. The 10-km provision will continue to apply until the ESZ is notified. This is not about reducing the existing zone.”
He further explained the practical consequences of insisting on a permanent 10 km buffer: “If we have to maintain that 10 km limit around KNPTR then towns like Kaliabar, Doboka, Jakhalabandha, Bokakhat would not remain.” He added that thousands of people living in these peripheral towns would be severely affected.
He said that if 10 km ESZ around Kaziranga is maintained, would affect thousands of people living in towns and villages around the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Chief Minister further noted that there is no wildlife sanctuary in the world with a uniform 10 km ESZ surrounding it. He also pointed to the recent notification of a 1 km ESZ around Deepor Beel in Guwahati, a Ramsar Site, as the normal practice. “The ESZ around Deepor Beel was notified at 1 km. This implies no rule says the buffer zone has to be 10 km everywhere in the world,” the CM said.
“The Supreme Court has said that the Eco-Sensitive Zone will be within one kilometre. This is not about reducing the existing zone. Until the state government notifies the Eco-Sensitive Zone, the 10-kilometre provision will continue to apply,” CM Sarma also said.
The issue started after the CM announced a few days ago that state govt plans to approach the Centre within the next two months with a proposal for the formal notification and demarcation of Kaziranga’s ESZ. He said it is needed to ease restrictions on development in and around Bokakhat, where projects including a modern stadium and civic infrastructure have been pending.
Why the move is needed: Development plans in the area
The default 10 km restriction has held back legitimate infrastructure and civic development in and around several towns near the national park. The Assam government has cited the need for a modern stadium in Bokakhat, improvement of the town’s civic infrastructure, and other long-pending developmental works. These projects have faced hurdles because large portions of the urban and peri-urban areas fall within the interim 10 km buffer.
A notified 1 km ESZ would allow the state to undertake these works while still maintaining a protective buffer and following the regulated activity regime prescribed by the 2011 Guidelines and the Supreme Court. The government has said the proposal will be sent to the Centre within two months and will be based on scientific assessment so that wildlife corridors remain protected.
1 km ESZ does not open the door to harmful activities outside it
A common fear being expressed is that once the Eco-Sensitive Zone around Kaziranga is notified at 1 km, polluting industries, mines, large commercial complexes and other destructive activities will suddenly spring up outside this zone. This apprehension is not supported by law or practice.
Even after the ESZ is formally notified at 1 km, or any other scientifically determined distance, the area outside it continues to remain under the full framework of existing environmental laws. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Guidelines of 9 February 2011 clearly classify activities into prohibited, regulated and permissible categories near forests. Mining, highly polluting industries, commercial saw mills, major hydro-electric projects and similar high-impact activities remain prohibited or severely restricted. No new project can come up without restriction merely because the buffer has been defined as 1 km. Every proposal still requires prior environmental clearance, forest clearance where applicable, recommendations of the National Board for Wildlife or its Standing Committee in sensitive cases, and compliance with the Environment (Protection) Act, the Wildlife (Protection) Act and other statutes.
Moreover, the National Green Tribunal, High Courts and the Supreme Court retain full jurisdiction in all activities. Any citizen, activist or organisation that finds a project outside the ESZ violating norms or threatening wildlife can approach these forums. The Supreme Court has already made it clear that mining is not permissible within one kilometre of the boundary of a national park or wildlife sanctuary, irrespective of the width of the notified ESZ. Other harmful activities that fall in the prohibited list under the 2011 Guidelines cannot be permitted simply because the outer limit of the ESZ has been fixed at 1 km.
In practical terms, large stretches of land around Kaziranga will continue to remain as they are—agricultural fields, forests, wetlands and village areas. Development will not blanket the entire zone outside the ESZ. Only specific, carefully scrutinised projects in designated locations that clear every layer of regulatory scrutiny will be allowed. The 1 km ESZ notification simply replaces an interim default of 10 km with a site-specific boundary. It does not create a free-for-all zone for industrialisation. All the usual safeguards—government clearances, NGT oversight, judicial remedies and the existing environmental laws—remain fully intact and enforceable.
Concerns that animal corridors will be blocked are equally unfounded. The courts and the National Green Tribunal have consistently protected the identified wildlife corridors of Kaziranga. Any construction or activity that permanently obstructs these corridors is unlikely to receive approval from authorities and the judiciary.
In fact, the government has already taken concrete steps to facilitate free movement of animals. A 34.5 km long Elevated Corridor is already being built on the National Highway no 15 (Old NH-37) that passes along the southern border of the national park. At present, animals in the park need to cross the vital highway when they move to the southern Karbi Hills during the monsoon, when Kaziranga gets flooded. This results in occasional collisions of animals with vehicles.
Vehicle speed in this stretch of the road is currently restricted to 40 km per hour. High-tech radar-equipped sensor cameras with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) have been installed to catch speeding drivers. This has led to an increase in the time needed to cross the road between Jakhalabandha and Bokakhat.
The elevated corridor will solve both problems. Animals will be able to cross the road without the risk of being hit by vehicles, while vehicles will be able to drive at higher speeds and reduce travel time. The elevated corridor is part of the ongoing four-laning of the Kaliabor-Numaligarh section of NH-715 to a four-way freeway. While the rest of the road has already been widened to four lanes, the Kaziranga section is still a two-lane highway, creating a bottleneck.
Kaziranga is home to India’s biggest rhino population and tons of other wildlife. The elevated design covers 9 key animal corridors for year-round safe passage. It cuts human-animal clashes, speeds up travel times between cities, boosts road safety, and handles more passengers and goods.
ESZ and the hypocrisy of the Congress Party
The Congress party’s demand that Assam must retain a 10 km ESZ around forests stands in sharp contrast to its position when a similar issue arose in Kerala. In June 2022, after the Supreme Court delivered its minimum 1 km order, Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi wrote to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urging the state government to approach the Central Empowered Committee and the Ministry of Environment to dilute even the one-kilometre ESZ.
He had cited the high population density of the Western Ghats region and the impact on the lives and livelihoods of local communities who had coexisted with forests for generations. Rahul Gandhi had said, “The State Govt’s stand on buffer zone is putting at risk the livelihoods of the people around Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. Govt action is pushing these hardworking people to a bleak future of uncertainty & suffering. Corrective action is immediately needed.”
The Kerala Assembly later passed a unanimous resolution seeking exemption from the strict 1 km rule, and the Congress in Kerala actively supported the demand to protect human settlements and agricultural land from ESZ restrictions. SFI workers had even vandalised Rahul Gandhi’s office in Wayanad on the ESZ issue.
When the issue concerns Kerala, the Congress argues for relaxation of the minimum 1 km zone in the name of people’s livelihoods. But when the issue concerns Assam, the same party insists on a much larger 10 km zone and portrays any attempt to follow the Supreme Court’s minimum standard as an attack on the environment. This selective approach suggests that the Congress is more interested in opposing development in Assam than in applying a consistent principle of conservation across the country.
Notably, the Congress party also opposed the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor project, the project that aims to protect animals from being hit by vehicles on the national highway. State Congress president Gaurab Gogoi had said earlier this year that instead of building the corridor, the money should be used to build river embankments. Gogoi has opposed or questioned several other major infrastructure projects in Assam, including the tunnel under Brahmaputra, and several overbridge projects in Guwahati and other towns in the state.
In conclusion, the Assam government’s proposal to notify a 1 km ESZ around Kaziranga is not a dilution of existing protection but the formalisation of the zone in accordance with the Supreme Court’s 2022 directions. The 10 km figure is only an interim default, it is not a notified zone. The Chief Minister has pointed out the severe impact a permanent 10 km buffer would have on surrounding towns and thousands of residents. Planned infrastructure projects and civic improvements remain stalled under the current interim regime. While genuine concerns about wildlife corridors must be addressed through scientific planning, the legal and practical position supports the state government’s move.
