Aravalli definition row: Supreme Court to hear suo motu case on December 29

The Supreme Court on Saturday took suo motu cognisance of concerns surrounding the definition of the Aravalli Range amid mounting criticism from environmentalists and opposition parties over its potential impact on the fragile mountain ecosystemA threejudge vacation bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant is scheduled to hear the matter on December 29The development comes after objections were raised to the Centres newly notified definition of the Aravalli mountain range which is based on a 100metre height criterion Environmentalists have warned that the revised definition could open up vast stretches of the ancient mountain range across Haryana Rajasthan and Gujarat to mining activitiesEnvironmentalist Neelam Ahluwalia a member of the Aravalli Virasat Jan Abhiyaan has demanded that the Supreme Court recall its November 20 order and that the Centre withdraw the new definition Speaking to ANI she said the revised criteria were introduced without adequate scientific assessment or public consultation There is nothing called sustainable mining in a critical mountain ecosystem like the Aravallis You cannot define an entire range for mining she said calling the move completely unacceptableAhluwalia cautioned that applying a uniform heightbased definition to an ancient and complex ecosystem could severely affect water food and climate security for millions of people She also questioned the governments claim that only two per cent of the area would be impacted alleging that no supporting data has been pplaced in the public domainPointing to earlier recommendations Ahluwalia said the Supreme Courts Centrally Empowered Committee CEC had in March 2024 called for a comprehensive environmental impact assessment of the Aravalli range which has not yet been conducted She claimed that mining both legal and illegal is already underway across 37 districts in the Aravalli belt leading to deforestation groundwater depletion river pollution and serious health concernsShe said the campaign has demanded an immediate halt to mining near human habitation forests and water bodies and called for transparent data on how much of the Aravalli range would be protected under the old Forest Survey of India criteria versus the new 100metre definitionUntil an independent assessment is done and people are consulted this order must be recalled and the definition scrapped she addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever