# Assam CM defends plan to shrink Kaziranga eco-sensitive zone to 1 km 2026-08-17T05:47:54+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has defended the Assam government's plan to reduce Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve's Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) from the default 10 km to a minimum of 1 km. Sarma said the move responds to decade-old opposition from residents of Bokakhat and Kaliabor, who had approached the Supreme Court over restrictions on business and livelihood. He argued that a 10-km zone would require closing the Numaligarh Refinery and cited a Supreme Court judgment allowing a 1-3 km buffer, as reported by The Assam Tribune. The Hindu notes that the ESZ, a buffer zone to minimise human impact on protected areas, was mandated by the National Board for Wildlife in 2002 and typically extends up to 10 km unless a state gets a site-specific notification approved by the Ministry of Environment. Sarma has pointed to the case of Deepor Beel, where a draft notification prescribes a variable ESZ, and to the Supreme Court's April 2023 ruling that a uniform 1-km ESZ is not feasible. The proposal has drawn sharp criticism from conservationists and forest officials. The National Tiger Conservation Authority had recommended an immediate ban on mining and quarrying across the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape to protect wildlife corridors. Grassroots activist Jadab Payeng has urged the government to retain the 10-km ESZ for the UNESCO World Heritage Site, warning that a narrower zone could increase human-animal conflict and industrial pressure on biodiversity. ## Coverage - thehindu.com - assamtribune.com This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-17T09:52:08+00:00. Tags: Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Kaziranga National Park, National Board for Wildlife, Supreme Court of India Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/assam-plan-to-shrink-kaziranga-eco-zone-triggers-row/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/assam-plan-to-shrink-kaziranga-eco-zone-triggers-row/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/