Ministry of Environment Notifies 408.7 Square Kilometre Eco-Sensitive Zone Around Hastinapur Barasingha Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh on April 23, 2026

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on April 23, 2026 issued the notification declaring an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of 408.7 square kilometres around the Hastinapur (Barasingha) Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh, formalising a decade-long stakeholder process. The notified ESZ extends across 307 villages in five Uttar Pradesh districts — Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Hapur, Bijnor and Amroha — covering the Ganga floodplain landscape that hosts the swamp deer (barasingha), several other ungulates, gharials and a rich avifauna. As per the notification, the protected complex supports about 41 mammal species, 373 bird species, 36 reptile species and over 280 plant species. The ESZ regulates activities such as commercial mining, polluting industries, large-scale hydro-electric projects, and major construction within its boundaries to act as a graded buffer between the strictly protected sanctuary and the broader human-use landscape, while permitting continuing agricultural and residential use by local communities. A monitoring committee chaired by the District Magistrate of one of the included districts will oversee compliance and approve permissible activities under the Zonal Master Plan, which is to be prepared within two years. The notification is significant for the conservation of the swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) — the state animal of Uttar Pradesh and a Schedule I species under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 — and is also expected to strengthen the case for declaring the larger landscape a tiger reserve. The ESZ joins a growing list issued by the MoEFCC under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 in line with Supreme Court directions on default 1-km ESZs around protected areas.