Now, starting projects around wildlife habitats made easier

NEW DELHI: The newly constituted wildlife committee’s jurisdiction to recommend projects in and around national parks and sanctuaries has been reduced just before the environment ministry is scheduled to announce ecosensitive zones in the Western Ghats and some other states.

In a key change, the ministry has decided that the committee will examine the projects in 650 national parks, sanctuaries and the eco-sensitive zones (ESA) around them. Earlier, the committee used to recommend projects within 10 kms of the national parks and sanctuaries irrespective of the boundary of the ESA.

The ministry quoted the 2006 Supreme Court order to say the distance of 10 kms will get substituted by the boundary limits of the zones for the projects to be considered by the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife to examine projects close to wildlife areas.

This change can speed up project development around national parks and sanctuaries as the average distance the ESA notified around wildlife areas is less than two kilometres and in some cases, it is only up to 500 meters.

The six states covered by the Western Ghats have also opposed ESA covering huge tracks of land around wildlife areas as suggested by the Kasturirangan Committee.

The committee had recommend one-third of the Western Ghats be declared as ESA but its recommendation was kept in abeyance following protests.

Now, the National Green Tribunal has asked the ministry to notify ESA in Western Ghats based on the panel’s