10 Km To 1 Km: Assam Govt ‘Reducing’ Eco-Sensitive Zone Of Kaziranga, But What’s At Stake?

Assam’s plan to formally notify a 1-km Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, replacing the existing 10-km interim protection, has triggered a debate over development, wildlife corridors and the future of the park’s wider ecosystem.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said the existing 10-km zone is a default arrangement because Kaziranga does not have a final, site-specific ESZ notification. The state plans to submit a fresh 1-km proposal to the Centre within two months, arguing that the wider buffer is restricting infrastructure and development around areas such as Bokakhat, including a proposed stadium. The 10-km protection will remain until the Centre formally notifies a new ESZ.

However, the current proposal marks a major shift from Assam’s earlier approach. In May 2024, the state submitted a proposal for an integrated ESZ covering about 3,596 sq km, bringing Kaziranga together with several surrounding protected areas and reserve forests. The proposal was under consideration before Assam withdrew it in April 2025. The state also withdrew a preliminary notification in June 2025 for a 2,570-hectare proposed addition to Kaziranga, an area reportedly used by rhinos, elephants and other wildlife.

The reversal has raised questions over why Assam has now moved from an expansive conservation landscape to a 1-km site-specific zone.

Conservationists argue that Kaziranga cannot be protected by looking only at the park boundary. During annual floods, animals move towards higher ground in the Karbi Anglong hills, using nine officially identified wildlife corridors. The Supreme Court in 2019 had ordered restrictions on construction in these corridors and mining in relevant Karbi Anglong catchments.

Environmentalists, including Jadav Payeng, have warned that greater human activity closer to the park could make wildlife movement more difficult during floods. The concern is not that every project outside 1 km will automatically harm animals, but that roads, hotels and other construction could gradually fragment movement routes, increasing road deaths and human-wildlife conflict.

The controversy also comes against the backdrop of proposed luxury tourism projects. NGT records show a Hyatt-linked project at Inglepathar is about 7.17 km from the park boundary, while a proposed Taj project at Hathikuli Tea Estate, involving Tata-linked companies, is about 2.2 km away. Both were outside the nine notified corridors but within Assam’s earlier proposed integrated ESZ.

There is no evidence that the new 1-km proposal was made to benefit Tata, Hyatt or any specific company. Yet their projects make the development question relevant: which projects and land parcels could become easier to develop if the wider interim protection is replaced by a narrower ESZ?

The final answer will depend on Assam’s yet-to-be-submitted proposal and, crucially, its map.

For Kaziranga, therefore, the real question is not simply 10 km versus 1 km, but whether development can expand without compromising the wider landscape wildlife needs to survive.