Lok Sabha Question No. 2763 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-15
Subject: Eco Sensitives Zones
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: KIRIT SOMAIYA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2763

TO BE ANSWERED ON 15.3.2016

## Eco Sensitives Zones

## 2763.  DR. KIRIT SOMAIYA:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Supreme Court has made any observations regarding Eco Sensitive Zones around forest/national parks;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (c) whether the State Government of Maharashtra has sent any proposal relating to Sanjay Gandhi Rashtriya Udyan, Mumbai;
- (d) if so, the present status of the proposal;
- (e) whether representations from people's representative and other organizations have been received in this regard; and
- (f) if so, the action taken by the Government thereon?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## (SHRI   PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

(a) & (b): As  per  the  National  Wild  Life  Action  Plan  (2002-2016)  adopted  by  the  Indian Board  for  Wild  Life  (IBWL)  in  its  XXI st meeting  held  on  21 st January  2002  under  the chairmanship of Hon'ble Prime Minister, it was emphasized that 'All identified  areas  around Protected Areas and wildlife corridors to be declared as ecologically fragile under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.' The aforesaid decision was strengthened by the Order dated 4 th December 2006 of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition No. 460/2004, whereby the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change was directed to give a final opportunity to all States/Union Territories to respond to the letter dated 27.5.2005 seeking proposals for EcoSensitive Zones (ESZs) around Protected Areas. The Ministry had asked the State Governments for  proposals  for  declaration  of  eco-sensitive  zones  around  National  Parks  and  Sanctuaries  in their respective States.

Only about 15 Eco-sensitive Zone notifications could be issued by the Ministry by mid-2014 for want of proposals from the State Governments.

Since then the Ministry has taken up notification of eco-sensitive zones around Protected Areas as a matter of priority so that developmental projects around protected areas are taken up while ensuring conservation of biodiversity and wildlife protection.

The  process  of  appraisal  of  ESZ  proposals  inter-alia  includes,  assessing  the  extent  of  ESZ, biodiversity and wildlife value and corridor status and list of prohibited/regulated activities in the ESZ.  Geospatial technologies are also used to ascertain the extent of ESZ. An Expert Committee in  the  Ministry  examines  the  proposal  along  with  objections  and  suggestions  received  on  the draft notification before a final notification is issued. The process of notification of Eco-sensitive Zones  in  the  Gazette  of  India  also  involves  legal  vetting  by  Ministry  of  law  and  Justice, Government of India.

In  order  to  expedite  the  process  of  notifications  of  ESZs,  the  Ministry  wrote  letters  to  State Governments,  held  meetings  with  the  concerned  States  at  various  levels  and  after  active persuasion, the number of ESZ proposals received by the Ministry has increased. The Ministry as on 11.03.2016 has received 268 proposals complete in all aspects for declaration of Eco-sensitive Zones around Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks from various State Governments. So far, the Ministry has approved/notified, 258 proposals for declaration of Eco-Sensitive Zones around Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks, of these 192 have been notified in the Gazette of India, of which, 161 are draft notifications and 31 are final notifications.

(c) to (f): The Ministry had received the proposal for declaration of Eco-sensitive Zone around Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai vide letter of the State Government of Maharashtra dated 7 th February  2013.  Subsequently,  the  Government  of  Maharashtra  vide  their  letter  dated  25 th February 2015, requested the Ministry to put on hold further processing of the proposal for final approval, till field verification of certain issues raised by people's representative is carried out by the State Government.

The Ministry received the revised proposal with respect to declaration of Eco-sensitive Zone around Sanjay Gandhi National Park in the State of Maharashtra vide their letter dated 4 th November  2015,  after  undertaking  field  verification.  On  receipt  of  the  complete  proposal  for declaration of Eco-sensitive Zone  around  Sanjay  Gandhi  National  Park  from  the  State Government,  the  Ministry  published    draft  notification  declaring  Eco-sensitive  Zone  around Sanjay Gandhi National Park in the Gazette vide S.O. No. 229 (E) dated 22 nd January 2016

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