Critics allege that narrowing the ESZ is designed to open up restricted buffer areas for commercial tourism, mining, and corporate development
Sushanta Roy
Diphu : The Karbi Anglong District Congress Committee (KADCC) organized a large-scale protest march (padayatra) through the streets of Diphu town on Saturday, joining a broader statewide agitation led by the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC).
The protest was launched in direct opposition to the Assam government’s proposal to sharply scale down the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) surrounding Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve from its standard 10 km limit to a narrow buffer of just 1 km to 3 km.
Party leaders, local workers, and environmental activists marched through the district headquarters while raising slogans against the BJP-led state administration and demanding an immediate withdrawal of the proposal.
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Party leaders and environmentalists strongly warned that slashing the protective buffer zone threatens to disrupt critical wildlife migration routes connecting the UNESCO World Heritage Site in the floodplains to the elevated refuge of the Karbi Anglong hills.
Critics allege that narrowing the ESZ is designed to open up restricted buffer areas for commercial tourism, mining, and corporate development.
Speaking during the statewide demonstrations, Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly Wazed Ali Choudhury made the party’s stance clear:
“We will not allow the BJP-led government to damage Kaziranga National Park, which is our pride. We will not relent till the decision is reversed.”
Former MP Ripun Bora and Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress President Mira Borthakur echoed similar sentiments, accusing Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of compromising the ecological integrity of Kaziranga and the adjoining hill corridors to favor private corporate interests.
In response to the growing pushback, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma defended the proposal, stating that reducing the ESZ radius aims to relieve local residents and farmers in surrounding villages from stringent land-use restrictions that hamper their daily livelihoods.
However, environmentalists caution that weakening the buffer zone will escalate human-wildlife conflict and destroy vital elephant movement corridors between Kaziranga and Karbi Anglong.Congress leadership affirmed that demonstrations and public awareness campaigns will continue across the state until the proposal submitted to the Centre is completely scrapped
