MoEFCC notifies Deepor Beel as eco-sensitive zone

An update on a new eco sensitive zone declared by the MoEFCC

 MoEFCC notifies Deepor Beel as eco-sensitive zone

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• The story: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified the Eco-sensitive zone of the Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary (Assam).
• Deepor Beel: It is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Assam and the State’s only Ramsar site besides being named an "Important Bird Area" by Birdlife International. It is located towards the southwest of Guwahati city, Assam and is the erstwhile water channel of River Brahmaputra. The lake expands up to 30 sq. km in summer and reduces to about 10 sq. km in the winter. The wildlife sanctuary measures 4.1 sq. km within this wetland (beel).

1. It constitutes a unique habitat for aquatic flora and avian fauna, and has both biological and environmental importance besides being the only major storm-water storage basin for Guwahati city.
2. It provides a means of livelihood for a number of local families.

• Concerns of today: The water here is turning toxic and has lost many of its aquatic plants that elephants would feed on. It has for decades been threatened by a railway track — set to be doubled and electrified — on its southern rim, a garbage dump, and encroachment from human habitation and commercial units.
• Eco-sensitive zone: The Ecologically Fragile Areas are areas within 10 kms around Protected Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.

1. ESZs are notified by MoEFCC, Government of India under Environment Protection Act 1986.
2. In case of places with sensitive corridors, connectivity and ecologically important patches, crucial for landscape linkage, even areas beyond 10 km width can also be included in the eco-sensitive zone.
3. The goal is to regulate certain activities around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries so as to minimise the negative impacts of such activities on the fragile ecosystem encompassing the protected areas.

• Prohibited activities: Commercial mining, saw mills, industries causing pollution (air, water, soil, noise etc), establishment of major HydroElectric Projects (HEP), commercial use of wood, Tourism activities like hot-air balloons over the National Park, discharge of effluents or any solid waste or production of hazardous substances.
• Regulated activities: Felling of trees, establishment of hotels and resorts, commercial use of natural water, erection of electrical cables, drastic change of agriculture system, e.g. adoption of heavy technology, pesticides etc, widening of roads.
• Permitted activities: Ongoing agricultural or horticultural practices, rainwater harvesting, organic farming, use of renewable energy sources, adoption of green technology for all activities.
• Knowledge centre:

1. Protected Areas (PAs) - Protected areas are where human occupations, or at least the exploitation of resources, is limited by law. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international organizations involved. PAs can be National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves, Community Reserves, or Marine Protected Areas.
2. National Parks (NPs) - An area, whether within a sanctuary or not, can be notified by the state government to be constituted as a National Park, by reason of its ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, or zoological association or importance, needed to for the purpose of protecting & propagating or developing wildlife therein or its environment. No human activity is permitted inside the national park except for the ones permitted by the Chief Wildlife Warden of the state under the conditions given in CHAPTER IV, WPA 1972. There were 104 national parks in India covering an area of 40,564.00 km2.
3. Wildlife Sanctuaries (WLS) - Any area other than area comprised with any reserve forest or the territorial waters can be notified by the State Government to constitute as a sanctuary if such area is of adequate ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, natural. or zoological significance, for the purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wildlife or its environment. Some restricted human activities are allowed inside the Sanctuary area details of which are given in CHAPTER IV, WPA 1972. There were 553 existing wildlife sanctuaries in India covering an area of  119776.00 km2.
4. Eco sensitive zone (ESZ) - An ESZ is the fragile area around protected areas (PAs) declared by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC). It exists within 10 kilometres of protected areas like National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries. The purpose of marking an Eco-Sensitive Zone is to create a shock-absorber around the protected areas.

• EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain the need and necessity for legally identifying protected areas in India. (2) What is the extent to which corporates have encroached into environmentally sensitive areas? Explain with reference to illegal mining. (3) What is an eco sensitive zone? Explain.

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