Stop Gujarat's plan to shrink ESZs: Parliamentary panel to Centre

RAJKOT/AHMEDABAD: Under the pretext of `local' protests in an election year, the

Gujarat

government is itching to reduce buffer zone around some important national parks and sanctuaries. But a 31-member

parliamentary committee

has asked the central government to disallow any such move as it will cause immense harm to the endangered

Asiatic lion

and other

wildlife species

.

“The committee strongly recommends to the ministry of environment, forest and climate change not to reduce the guidelines of eco-sensitive zo ne (ESZ) from existing 10km to proposed 500m by the state government as it will surely destroy the lion habitat. The committee recommends that there should be uniformity regar ding the declaration of ESZ around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries,'' the report said.

The state government has drastically shrunk the ESZ to minimum 100m and maximum 500m around

Gir

Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park, Mitiyala Wildlife Sanctuary and Paniya Wildlife Sanctuary. The modified ESZ covers only 207sq m in 114 villages of nine talukas in three districts as against the original proposal that had recommended a buffer zone of 3,328.8139sq km covering 291 villages. Wildlife conservationists and volunteers had ve hemently represented the dangerous impact of reduction in size of ESZ when the committee had visited Gir on January 17.

Wildlife activist Biren Pad hya, who has filed a

Public Interest Litigation

(PIL) in Gujarat high court against the proposal to reduce ESZs, said, “We welcome the report of the parliamentary committee and its recommendation. These vindicate our grounds of fighting for the ESZ.Government must accept the recommendations and keep intact the original ESZ around Gir Wildlife Sanctuary.“

“The committee was also informed that ESZ around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, as per existing central guidelines should be 10km. However, there was a move to reduce it to 500m for Gir forest. The committee was told that a proposal to this effect had been approved by state government and sent to the central ministry . When the committee enquired into the matter, the representative of the state stated that it is up to the central government to allow reducing the ESZ. When the chairperson enquired from the representative of the union government as to whether they have any fixed norm about it, the committee was informed that the central government generally went by the proposals of the state governments,“ the report reveals.