BENGALURU: After Bandipur National Park, nine more wildlife sanctuaries in Karnataka have received the Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) tag, thereby giving protected areas (PAs) the much-needed protection from commercial mining, polluting industries and indiscriminate commercial and tourism activities. The tag is expected for Dandeli and Anshi National Park soon.
According to the Forest Department, of the 34 protected areas in the state, till date, draft notification has been sent for 28 to the Centre for final notification orders in the last two years. Between May and July this year, nine got the tag.
The finalisation of the draft order has been delayed as the Hindi translation is taking a lot of time, says C Jayaram, additional PCCF (Wildlife).
He says, “Recently, nine have come through and we are shortly expecting one more. In fact, with other states sending their draft notification for ESZ, we are in a queue. Any query that has been put by the Union Ministry about any PA has been clarified and sent. We have sent the draft notification for three more protected areas, while for the remaining three it is yet to be sent.”
Protected areas with ESZ tag
Arabithittu Wildlife Sanctuary, Attiveri Bird Sanctuary, Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Ghataprabha Bird Sanctuary, Gudekote Bear Sanctuary, Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary, Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Rangayyandurga Four Horned Antelope Wildlife Sanctuary, Talacauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and Bandipur National Park