New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed that national parks and wildlife sanctuaries must have an Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of minimum one km from the demarcated boundary of a protected forest.

A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, B R Gavai and A S Bopanna said mining within the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries shall not be permitted.

ADVERTISEMENT

No permanent structure will be allowed within the ESZ, it added.

The top court also directed the Chief Conservator of Forests of all states and UTs to prepare a list of existing structures within the ESZs and submit a report to it within a period of three months.

"For this purpose, such authorities can take assistance from governmental agencies for satellite imaging or photography using drones," the bench said.

The direction came on a pending PIL, titled as T N Godavarman versus UOI, about issues including forest preservation.

ADVERTISEMENT

TAGS

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.