Eco-sensitive zones: the law, the 2011 guidelines and Supreme Court rules
Why in news: An Environment Ministry affidavit to the NGT, dated 5 October 2026, says Similipal's 2019 draft eco-sensitive zone is still unnotified for want of Odisha's information.
Eco-sensitive zones are buffers around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries that the Union Environment Ministry notifies under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, to regulate mining, industry and building. Their width is fixed for each protected area, and mining within one kilometre is barred. The ministry's NGT affidavit, dated 5 October 2026, says Similipal's 2019 draft zone remains unnotified.
Syllabus: Prelims · Environment & Ecology; GS3 · Environment & Conservation
Why this matters for UPSC
GS3 conservation and environmental impact assessment: Prelims can ask which Act and rule back eco-sensitive zones, what the 2011 guidelines prohibit and where mining is barred; Mains, about balancing conservation with livelihoods and State delays.
In short
An eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) is a notified belt around a national park or wildlife sanctuary, declared under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, that regulates rather than bans activity.
ESZs work only when notified on time and planned with residents; the Centre and States must finish pending drafts without trimming corridors to zero.
Why it matters
A national park cannot protect its tigers and elephants if mines, factories and resorts crowd its edge, because animals, water and forest do not stop at the boundary line. An eco-sensitive zone sets the rules for that edge: what a nearby village may build, which industries may come, and where a hotel needs extra checks. Families who farm and live in these belts feel the rules most, since their rights were never settled the way they were inside the park. When a zone stays in draft for years, neither side has certainty: projects face a wider default check, and the forest keeps a weaker buffer than the one planned.
Prelims pointers
- ESZ notifications are issued under section 3(1) and clauses (v) and (xiv) of section 3(2) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, read with Rule 5(3).
- Rule 5(3)(c): any person may object in writing to a draft restriction within sixty days of its publication in the Official Gazette.
- 2011 guidelines: an ESZ may extend up to 10 km as a general principle, wider where corridors lie beyond, and may vary in width around one area.
- Office Memorandum of 17 May 2022: projects within 10 km of an area without a final ESZ need prior clearance under the EIA Notification, 2006.
- Such projects also need consideration by the National Board for Wildlife or its Standing Committee; an Expert Appraisal Committee appraises them for clearance.
- Rights of residents inside protected areas are settled under sections 18 to 25A of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972; ESZs have no such settlement.
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to the legal basis of eco-sensitive zones in India, consider the following statements:
1. Under Rule 5 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986, objections to a draft restriction may be filed within ninety days of its publication.
2. The Central Government notifies eco-sensitive zones under section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Show the answer
Answer: (b) 2 only
Answer: (b) 2 only. ESZs are notified under section 3 of the 1986 Act, but the objection window is sixty days.
Statement 1: incorrect. Rule 5(3)(c) of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 allows written objections within sixty days of the draft's publication in the Official Gazette.
Statement 2: correct. ESZ notifications cite section 3(1) and clauses (v) and (xiv) of section 3(2) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, read with Rule 5(3).
Eliminate: Judge statement 2 first: ESZs are notifications under the 1986 Act's section 3. Out: (a), (d).
Eliminate: Statement 1 gives ninety days where the Rule says sixty. Out: (c).
Trap: Near-miss figure. The objection period is moved from sixty to ninety days, a figure that sounds equally official.
Remember: ESZ = EPA 1986 section 3(2)(v) + Rule 5; objections within 60 days.
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