SC modifies order on ESZ around protected forests

Source: The post is based on the article “SC modifies order on ESZ around protected forests” published in The Hindu on 26th April 2023

What is the News?

The Supreme Court has modified its 2022 order which directed that each protected forest such as national parks and wildlife sanctuaries must have an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of one kilometre.

What was the case about?

In June 2022, the Supreme Court had directed all national parks and wildlife sanctuaries falling under protected forests to earmark a minimum distance of one kilometer as ESZ where prohibited activities, including mining and establishment of any new permanent structure, will not be permitted.

However, the Centre and several States had returned to the court seeking modification of the June 2022 judgment saying the judicial direction affected hundreds of villages on the peripheries of forests.

What did the Supreme Court rule?

The Supreme Court has modified its 2022 judgment to have mandatory eco-sensitive zones (ESZ) of a minimum of one kilometre around protected forests, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries across the country.

The court reasoned that ESZ cannot be uniform across the country and has to be “protected area-specific”.

The court said such a stringent observance of the June 2022 judgment would cause more harm than good. This will also increase man-animal conflict rather than abate it.

Henceforth, the 2022 order will not be applicable to ESZs in respect to which draft and final notifications have been issued by the MoEFCC, and where proposals for such notifications have been received by the ministry.

It will also not be applicable where the national parks and sanctuaries are located on inter-state borders or share common boundaries.

However, the court made it clear that mining within the national park and wildlife sanctuary and within an area of one kilometer from the boundary of such national park and wildlife sanctuary shall not be permissible.