Union Government issued final notification demarcating ESZ around Okhla Bird Sanctuary

The Union Government on 19 August 2015 issued the final notification demarcating the Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around Okhla bird sanctuary.

The announcement was made by the Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, who also said that the final notification was issued after the National Board of Wild Life cleared the process of demarcating the ESZ.

The ESZ around the sanctuary will be the area up to 100 meters from the eastern, western and southern boundary. In the northern boundary, the ESZ will expand up to 1.27-km from the Okhla Bird Sanctuary, which extends up to DND flyover across the riverbed situated in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district and southeast district of NCT Delhi.

Earlier, National Green Tribunal (NGT) had passed an order barring development of any infrastructure within 10 kilometer radius from the sanctuary's boundary.

Okhla Bird Sanctuary
Okhla Bird Sanctuary is at the Okhla barrage over Yamuna River and is situated in Noida Gautam Buddh Nagar district on Delhi-Uttar Pradesh state border. It is known as a haven for over 300 bird species, especially water birds.

In 1990, an area of 3.5 square kilometres (1.4 sq mi) on the river Yamuna was designated as bird sanctuary by the Government of Uttar Pradesh under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The site is located at the point where the river enters Uttar Pradesh.

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