Congress accuses Centre of pushing ‘flawed’ Aravalli redefinition

Accusing the Centre of misleading the public on the issue of Aravallis, Congress on Wednesday (December 24) asked why it was pushing through a "fatally flawed redefinition" of the hills.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, in a post on ,X argued that the redefinition of the Aravallis that the government is adopting was opposed by the Forest Survey, the central empowered committee of the Supreme Court and the SC's amicus curiae.

Under the new definition, an "Aravalli Hill" is a landform with an elevation of at least 100 metres above its local surrounding terrain and an "Aravalli Range" is a cluster of two or more such hills within 500 metres of each other.

What critics say

Critics have argued that several ecologically significant parts of the Aravalli system do not fall within the proposed 100-metre elevation criterion.

They point out that low ridges, slopes, foothills and groundwater recharge zones, despite their lower elevation, play a vital role in groundwater recharge, biodiversity conservation, climate regulation and soil stability, and risk being excluded under the new definition.

Also Read: No tampering with Aravallis to be allowed, warns Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma

The Centre has rejected allegations that the revised definition weakens environmental safeguards. It maintained that more than 90 per cent of the Aravalli region will continue to remain protected and asserted that the new definition does not dilute controls on mining activities.

Dig at Environment minister

Responding to the government’s position, Ramesh said it was “abundantly clear” that the Union minister for environment, forests and climate change was being “economical with the truth” on the issue of the Aravallis.

Also Read: No mining relaxation, 90 pc of Aravallis to stay protected: Bhupender Yadav

Ramesh said the redefinition being pursued by the Modi government had faced opposition from several key institutions. He cited objections raised by the Forest Survey of India, the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court, first constituted in May 2002 and reconstituted in December 2023, and the Supreme Court’s own amicus curiae.

According to him, these bodies had clearly and compellingly opposed the revised definition.

Questions Centre’s intention

Questioning the Centre’s intent, Ramesh asked why the government was pressing ahead with what he described as a “fatally flawed” redefinition of the Aravallis despite such opposition.

The Congress had earlier questioned why the Modi government was “hell-bent” on redefining the mountain range and for whose benefit the changes were being made.

The party has repeatedly maintained that the Aravallis are part of the country’s natural heritage and possess immense ecological value.

(With agency inputs)