Guwahati, Sept 2: The Assam government will consult local communities while implementing the Supreme Court's order on the creation of an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around Kaziranga, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday.Sarma said the concerns and difficulties of people living around the national park would have to be addressed while finalising the ESZ. “We have to create an Eco-Sensitive Zone as the Supreme Court has allowed us. We will speak with the people and create an Eco-Sensitive Zone nicely. The difficulties faced by the people have to be removed. I am the Chief Minister, people voted for me, so I have to listen to the people and work for them,” Sarma told the press, on the sidelines of an event in Dergaon. He said the long-term protection of Kaziranga depended on the cooperation and support of communities living around the park. “The protection of Kaziranga cannot be done on Instagram, Gaurav Gogoi also cannot protect Kaziranga. Who will protect Kaziranga? The people living near it. So, doing something while making the people angry is wrong. Standing with the locals, we have to work, and our government works that way,” he said. The Chief Minister also took a swipe at the Opposition Congress over its recent protests against the proposed changes to the ESZ around Kaziranga. “We stopped rhino poaching and transformed Kaziranga into a place we can be proud of when visitors come. Many more works will be undertaken there. But when a political party, which knows that rhino poaching flourished during its rule, speaks about Kaziranga, it shows a complete lack of shame,” Sarma said. The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on August 29 had staged statewide protests against the state government's proposed move to reduce the ESZ around Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve from 10 km to 1 km. Congress workers took out padyatras and staged demonstrations in several districts, including Sonitpur, Sivasagar, Lakhimpur, Hailakandi and Karimganj, besides other parts of the state. The protests followed Sarma's earlier remarks regarding a possible reduction in the extent of the ESZ. However, the Chief Minister clarified on August 27 that his reference to a 1-km ESZ was specifically in the context of Bokakhat. He had said that different parts of the Kaziranga landscape would require different approaches to the extent of the ESZ, depending on factors such as wildlife movement and the presence of the Brahmaputra.