Golaghat/Guwahati, Aug 18: A rally by residents living around Kaziranga National Park in support of reducing its eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) turned into a show of solidarity with the government and opposition to Congress on Tuesday. Hundreds of residents from areas including Bagori-Kuthori took part in the rally from Kuthori to Haldhibari, carrying banners and posters and raising slogans in support of the government’s proposal to reduce the ESZ from the current default 10-km buffer to 1 km.

“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 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”.

Protesters also accused Jorhat MP Gogoi of opposing development projects in the region. “This is not Last Gate or Dispur that they will come and protest whenever they want.

They are even objecting to the elevated corridor. What kind of person is Gaurav Gogoi?

We are ashamed to call him an MP. We, the people of Kaziranga, are with the government and appeal to it to make the eco-sensitive zone zero kilometre,” another participant said.

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

At a press meet at Mising Jironi Chora, the organisation said the demand had been raised for years by residents of the Bokakhat and Kaliabor areas. “We favour and welcome the Chief Minister’s decision to reduce the eco-sensitive zone.