The Environment Ministry is planning further decentralisation of powers for granting faster green clearances in the country. The mandatory clearance from National Board For Wildlife (NBWl) for projects within a 10 km radius of wildlife parks and sanctuaries may soon be a thing of the past. The State Governments are likely to be given the powers to decide on the eco-sensitive zones around their respective parks.
This comes in the wake of the Ministry recently filing an affidavit in the apex court to this effect. It has turned down the CEC’s recommendation contending that declaration of ESZs around wildlife sanctuaries and national parks be site-specific. The Supreme Court had appointed a Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in 2012, which had advocated that ESZs should range between a radious of 100 metres to 2 km around protected areas.
The decision if finalised will involve the fate of about 600 protected areas in the country and would be applicable where projects otherwise called for central approval. According to sources in the Ministry, the ESZ would be more site-specific based on assessment by respective states rather than putting a general bracket of 10 km. This would now enable the states to take a call on developmental projects and constructions around protected areas without the intervention of the Ministry.
The sources in the Ministry have justified the move, saying that experience shows that one general rule can not apply for all. A number of national parks have human habitation on the fringes, which means development activities can not be restricted there.The sources further pointed out that a number of States are not keen on declaring 10 km eco-sensitive zone as they think this will hamper development.
In fact according to them, many States especially the smaller ones are not in favour of an ESZ at all, as they would be compelled to depend on National Board for Wildlife. The move of MoEF implies that it does not want to antagonise State Governments and hence leaving it to their discretion.
The purpose of declaring ESZ was to create a kind of shock absorber for protected areas The wildlife conservation strategy of 2002 had called for declaration of an area within 10 km radius of wildlife sanctuaries and parks as ESZs where construction or mining activities would be regulated.