BHUBANESWAR: Facing flak for alleged deviation in the draft proposal of the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around Satkosia Tiger Reserve, the Odisha government has called a crucial meeting of all stakeholders to deliberate on the issue before finalising the notification of the plan.
Sources said, the high-level meeting scheduled to be held on July 1 will be chaired by chief secretary Manoj Ahuja in the presence of chairman of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) Siddhanta Das. The CEC, constituted by the Supreme Court, had recently sought a response from the state government on what it termed as ‘gross violation’ of apex court’s directives concerning the ESZ around Satkosia.
The CEC had raised concern over major changes in the draft ESZ notification by the Forest, Environment and Climate Change (EF&CC) department. The committee flagged that some of these modifications appeared to be aimed at promoting tourism at the cost of ecological safeguards.
The Satkosia Abhayaranya and Praja Surakshya Samiti (SAPSS) also accused the state government of violating the SC directives by diluting the ESZ safeguards and filed complaints.
The draft plan proposed to entirely exclude two key zones of the tiger reserve from ESZ coverage and restrict the boundary to just one km in all directions except the northwest, a region already grappling with human-wildlife conflict due to dense settlements in its core and buffer zones.
The proposed ESZ will cover an area of 532.31 sq km, surrounding Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary and Baisipalli Wildlife Sanctuary, which together form the Satkosia Tiger Reserve spread over 1,136.7 sq km. It has also proposed the extent of ESZ boundary from the protected area boundary of the tiger reserve to be zero near the urban settlements at Athamallik NAC and the Baliput-Orasingha segment along the bank of Mahanadi river.
The EF&CC department has justified the zero-ESZ status in these zones citing livelihood and developmental needs. But wildlife experts argue that such exclusions could expose the tiger habitat to unregulated human activity, potentially jeopardising years of conservation gains.
They also pointed out that the exclusion of the two zones on the grounds of their proximity to urban settlements also contradicts the state government’s efforts of creating more inviolate space in the habitat by relocating villages from the core and buffer zones. There are 204 villages in the ESZ zone.
Previous attempts to finalise the ESZ proposals for Satkosia have remained stuck because the state government has not been able to comply with the details sought by the expert appraisal committee. The New Indian Express had earlier reported on May 6 about the controversial changes proposed in the ESZ draft, triggering strong reactions from environmentalists and wildlife experts.