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    Natarajan urged to act against CEC move on safety zones

    Synopsis

    Environmentalists and conservationists have warned that recommendations by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to cut eco-sensitive zones, if accepted, would enable permissions to thermal power plants, steel units, aluminium refineries, mines etc beyond a mere 100 metres of protected areas.

    NAGPUR: Environmentalists and conservationists have warned that recommendations by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to cut eco-sensitive zones (ESZs), if accepted, would enable permissions to thermal power plants, steel units, aluminium refineries, mines etc beyond a mere 100 metres of protected areas (PAs). This would be a certain disaster for wildlife habitats and corridors.

    Ahead of the National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) meeting on October 31, executive trustee of Conservation Action Trust (CAT) Debi Goenka, environmentalists Bittu Sahgal, Biswajit Mohanty and A Rangarajan and former NBWL members Shekar Datttri and Praveen Bhargav have reminded environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan that the National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-2016) recommends 'all identified areas within 10km around PAs and wildlife corridors be declared as ecologically fragile under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.' The MoEF has already issued comprehensive guidelines on February 9, 2011 in this regard.

    Now, CEC wants it to be cut to 100-500 metres. Goenka said ignoring the comprehensive MoEF guidelines, states, including Maharashtra are attempting to recast and downgrade ESZ proposals that are currently under process.

    The CEC has suo motu submitted its recommendations to the Supreme Court without any legal jurisdiction and without any scientific study, research, discussion or consultation.

    "We believe that the CEC recommendations would be hugely problematic. This may lead to foreclosing all reasonable options of protecting areas based on sound ecological principles specific to a particular landscape," said Sahgal.

    The greens said fundamentally, the challenge before the nation is to prevent further fragmentation or breaking up of important landscapes and corridors from ill planned and improperly sited development projects.

    "The CEC has also confused the matter by referring to safety zones (ecologically sensitive areas) around PAs. It is not clear at all whether the safety zone recommended by the CEC would be a total 'no development zone' where no non-forestry activities would be permitted," they said.

    In view of the above facts and circumstances, conservationists have urged Natarajan to file an affidavit before the Supreme Court stating that the comprehensive guidelines issued in 2011 are legally tenable and suo motu recommendations of the CEC are neither on the directions of the Supreme Court nor with any legal jurisdiction and thus are not acceptable.



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