Kaziranga ESZ row: Residents protest in support of Assam’s 1-km buffer, oppose Gaurav Gogoi’s 10-km demand

Guwahati: Residents from in and around Kaziranga National Park protested in Assam’s Kaliabor on Tuesday. These people are supporting the state government’s decision to reduce the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around the national park from 10 km to 1 km.

Residents staged a protest from Kuthari to Bagori, carrying placards and raising slogans against Jorhat MP Gaurav Gogoi and MLA Akhil Gogoi.

Gogoi said that the ESZ around Kaziranga should extend up to 10 km instead of the proposed 1 km. The rally came a day after Assam Congress staged a protest near Kaziranga against the proposed reduction, with the Opposition party alleging that the move could provide a “legal cover for mining and undermine wildlife conservation”.


Gaurav who is Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president stated on X , “Yesterday the Congress party in Assam took part in a protest organized by the local people of Kaziranga and supported their demands. Human -elephant and human-tiger conflicts have increased in the vicinity because of unplanned construction, mining and development activity. Reducing the eco-sensitive zone will increase these conflicts. The natural habitat including the water, soil and air face the threat of increasing pollution. We all have to come together to SaveKaziranga and SaveAssam.”

Members of the Karbi Students’ Association and residents of Karbi Anglong also participated in the protest on Tuesday against Congress. Some protesters staged a semi-nude demonstration to oppose the demand for a wider ESZ.

“Many political leaders are opposing the 1-km eco-sensitive zone. We condemn their statements. We know what problems we are facing due to the ESZ and we welcome the Chief Minister’s decision as a solution to our problems. We are protesting today because yesterday Gaurav Gogoi said that the zone should be kept at 10 km, but that is not right,” a local resident said.

The protesters briefly blocked the road at Haldhibari before submitting a memorandum to the local administration, seeking early implementation of the proposed reduction.

The Asom Jatiyabadi Yuva Parishad also supported greater involvement of communities living around Kaziranga in determining the ESZ boundary. “It is the people and villages near Kaziranga and the organisations here whose voice should matter. The ESZ limit should be determined with their opinion. Kaziranga should be protected and the people living near it should also be protected,” the organisation said.

Mising student organisation TMPK backed Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s proposal and demanded that the ESZ be reduced to zero in inhabited areas.

The Assam government has said it plans to approach the Centre within the next two months seeking a site-specific ESZ for Kaziranga, with the proposed limit reduced from the default 10-km buffer to 1 km.

The Congress, meanwhile, has opposed the move, alleging that shrinking the ESZ could provide legal cover for illegal coal mining and facilitate large-scale mining around Kaziranga.

Kaziranga National Park (KNP) is UNESCO’s world heritage site. It is a major tourist attraction site in Eastern India.