Aravalli committee seeks public inputs, suggestions

The Supreme Court-constituted Aravalli committee has invited representations, suggestions, and inputs from people on issues related to the Aravalli hill range.

Formed on May 25, the high-powered committee has been tasked with conducting an independent review of the Centre’s report on the definition and delineation of the Aravalli hill range.

According to the Environment Ministry’s press note on Tuesday, the committee has invited representations, suggestions and inputs from the states of the NCT and various stakeholders, including environmentalists, mining lease holders and local communities, whose livelihoods and wellbeing may be intrinsically linked to the region’s biodiversity.

It added that submissions, supported “to the extent possible” by documentary evidence or verifiable material, must be submitted via an email or an official Google form within 21 days of the notice. The development has come amid concerns about the committee’s neutrality, as it mainly comprises ex-Government officers.

The committee, which has to submit its report by August 31, is headed by Kanchan Devi, Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE). Its members include Subhash Ashutosh, former Director General of the Forest Survey of India, Rajendra Kumar Sharma, former Director of the Geological Survey of India, Brij Mohan Singh Rathore, former Joint Secretary in the Environment Ministry and Professor Ashok K Bhatnagar, former Head of the Department of Botany at Delhi University.

The court also appointed Professor Jagdish Krishnaswamy of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bengaluru, and Professor Laxmikant Sharma of the Central University of Haryana as special invitees who may be associated with the committee’s work by the chairperson as required.

The Environment Ministry was directed to nominate an officer of the rank of Director to serve as the committee’s Member Secretary.