327 objections sent as of July 23, 2025
Campaign partners:
Save Sariska People’s Movement
Fridays for Future Delhi
Save Dol Ka Badh
Aarey Forest Mumbai
Climate Front India
Animal Save India
People for Aravallis
The Government in Rajasthan has proposed to redraw the boundaries of Sariska Tiger Reserve’s Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH) and buffer areas in a bid to boost mining and other activities in the Aravalli hills. The proposal has received the approval of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), Rajasthan State Board for Wildlife, and National Tiger Conservation Authority.
If given a nod by the Supreme Court, this move could enable 50+ marble, dolomite, limestone, and masonic stone mines to restart operations around Sariska, thereby adversely affecting the tiger population and the ecology of the eco-sensitive area. This proposal goes against a recent Supreme Court directive issued in May 2024, which clearly ordered the closure of illegal mines within 1 km radius of Sariska’s Critical Tiger Habitat.
It must be understood that ‘all land areas are not equally valuable for wildlife conservation’. The areas marked for exclusion include vital corridors crucial for the internal movement of the tigers, tiger's seasonal refuge and territorial establishment. The excluded area also acts as an important wildlife corridor connecting Sariska to Jamwa Ramgarh, Dausa and Sawai Madhopur. This will exacerbate human-animal conflict. If these vital areas are reduced, not only will tiger habitats shrink, but the forest’s natural buffer against climate change, water scarcity, and pollution will be weakened.
Sariska, which is one of India’s oldest tiger reserves, is home to leopards, hyenas, jackals and hundreds of plant and other animal species.
If its core zones are reduced, not only will tiger habitats shrink, but the forest’s natural buffer against climate change, water scarcity, and pollution will be weakened. The areas marked for exclusion include vital corridors crucial for the internal movement of the tigers, tiger's seasonal refuge and territorial establishment. This will exacerbate human-animal conflict.
The tiger is India’s national animal and a symbol of our ecological richness and national pride. India’s conservation efforts to protect this endangered species have gained global recognition and established us as a leader in wildlife conservation. But redrawing the boundaries of the tiger’s habitat to make way for mining and commercial activity sends a troubling message that erodes, both our national pride and global standing. We cannot make claims to honour our national animal while destroying the very ecosystems that sustain it.
We are urging the authorities to halt the boundary rationalisation process and refrain from issuing a final gazette notification that could alter India’s tiger conservation efforts forever!
Through Project Tiger, launched in 1973, India has successfully brought its tiger population back from the brink, making it home to over 70% of the world’s wild tigers today.
Sariska has become a global success story in wildlife conservation and its legacy must be preserved. 21 years ago, in the year 2004, poaching resulted in all the 28 tigers in Sariska to be wiped out and their number reduced to zero. Today, Sariska’s tiger count is at a historic 49, a feat that took decades of relentless efforts. The proposed rationalisation plan could cause a major blow to this historic feat.
Send in your objections against the proposal and let’s make sure our voices are heard.
Sources:
[1] Decks cleared to redraw critical tiger habitat boundary of Sariska Tiger Reserve
[2] Conservationists raise alarm over govt proposal to redraw Sariska boundaries | Jaipur News - Times of India
[3] Move to redraw boundaries of Sariska Tiger Reserve to facilitate mining draws flak from experts
[4] Environmentalists urge Centre to scrap Sariska boundary change proposal
[5] NTCA
