NEW DELHI, October 15 — The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on Wednesday published the final statutory gazette notification demarcating the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) encompassing the perimeter of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve in Assam to safeguard nine vital animal migratory corridors.
Varying between zero and eight kilometres in width from the protected boundary to the foothills of the Karbi Anglong plateau, the ESZ regulation strictly prohibits commercial open-cast stone quarrying, polluting red-category manufacturing, and unchecked hotel infrastructure, while accommodating localized organic agriculture and the construction of elevated flyways along National Highway 715 (old NH-37).
Conservation biologists and park wardens underscored that the protected zone provides indispensable dry-ground refugia during the Brahmaputra River's annual seasonal monsoon inundations, shielding endangered Great One-Horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) and Asiatic elephant herds from speeding highway vehicular traffic.
The statutory foundation of Eco-Sensitive Zones under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986, the institutional history of Kaziranga National Park (declared a Reserve Forest in 1905, National Park in 1974, UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, and Tiger Reserve in 2007), the IUCN conservation status of the Indian rhino, and riparian riverine flood ecology are standard high-yield topics in UPSC Civil Services (GS-III: Ecology & Biodiversity) and State Forest Service exams.