If States and Union Territories (UTs) fail to submit site-specific proposals around wildlife sanctuaries and national parks by February 15, all activities will be prohibited within 10 km of the area.
In letter to Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories, the Environment Secretary has informed them of the deadline, giving them “one last opportunity” to submit site-specific proposals.
The deadline follows the poor response by States to the guidelines notified by the Environment and Forests Ministry on February 9, 2011 regarding eco-sensitive zones around national parks and sanctuaries.
“….the progress on this front has been far from satisfactory, Very few States have come forward with proposals, that too for few of the national parks and sanctuaries in their respective States,” says the letter.
Flaying States for their tardy response, the letter said it was more than a decade since the Wildlife Conservation Strategy 2002, adopted by the Indian Board for Wildlife, which envisaged declaring land falling within 10 km of the boundary of National Parks and Sanctuaries as eco-fragile zones, was communicated to States and UTs.
As some States had expressed reservations, the matter was re-examined by the National Board for Wildlife in March 2005. This decision was communicated to all State and Union Territories in a letter in May 2005, seeking site-specific proposals, but the response had been poor.
The letter also mentioned the Supreme Court, which was considering this issue in a writ petition.