India, Nov. 18 -- In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court on Monday directed state governments to notify eco-sensitive zones (ESZ) around all tiger reserves, including buffer and fringe areas, not less than one kilometre from their outer boundaries, and formulate a policy to declare the entire tiger reserve as silence zone while prohibiting use of mobile phones or night tourism in the core or critical tiger habitat.

The court's comprehensive pan-India guidelines, aimed at conservation of tigers and regulation of protected areas, placed strict timelines on states, directing them to notify the buffer and core areas of tiger reserves within six months, come out with a tiger conservation plan (TCP) also within six months, and prescribe ES...