Eco-Sensitive Zone Assessment: establishing whether a site falls in a protected area's regulated buffer.

It is an area notified around a national park or wildlife sanctuary under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 to act as a shock absorber for the protected area. The notification defines the zone's extent and lists which activities are prohibited, which are regulated and which are permitted within it.

No. The extent is whatever the notification for that protected area says, and it is commonly variable in width, wider on some flanks and narrower on others. The 10 km figure is a default screening distance used where no ESZ has been notified; it is not the width of a notified zone.

It depends on the activity. Regulated activities within a notified zone are dealt with under the notification and the Zonal Master Plan through the State authorities and the Monitoring Committee, while proposals requiring wildlife clearance go through the State Board for Wildlife to the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife.

Notifications commonly prohibit commercial mining, polluting industries, major hydroelectric projects, commercial use of firewood and setting up of new saw mills, among others, with regulated categories covering construction, tourism and infrastructure. The specific list is in the specific notification, and it varies between protected areas.

Not necessarily. It depends entirely on how the notification classifies the proposed activity. A prohibited activity cannot proceed at that location; a regulated one may proceed subject to the applicable approvals and the Zonal Master Plan. The assessment exists precisely to establish which of the three categories applies before design is committed.

It is the land-use and development plan prepared for a notified eco-sensitive zone, approved by the State, which governs how regulated activities are dealt with inside the zone. Where it exists, proposals are tested against it, so it is part of the assessment rather than a later consideration.

No. It is a screening step that establishes whether wildlife clearance is triggered and what the applicable restrictions are. If clearance is required, the proposal still goes to the State Board for Wildlife and, on its recommendation, to the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife.

Yes. Tiger reserves have core and buffer areas notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and involve the National Tiger Conservation Authority in addition to the ordinary wildlife clearance route. A site near a tiger reserve or an identified corridor should be screened on that basis specifically, not simply as proximity to a sanctuary.