Environmentalists welcome SC’s stay order on Aravallis, want panel to have experts

Environmentalists objecting to the new definition of Aravallis welcomed the Supreme Court’s move to stay its order on redefining Aravallis on Monday and demanded that the new panel to study the issue should also have environment experts and not just bureaucrats.

The Supreme Court kept in abeyance the directions in its November 20 verdict that had accepted a uniform definition of the Aravalli hills and ranges recommended by a committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC). It also proposed to constitute a high-powered committee comprising domain experts to undertake an exhaustive and holistic examination of the issue.

Environmentalist Bhavreen Kandhari said the manner in which mining has been going on in the Aravallis is an administrative and governance failure. “This judicial intervention was much needed. It is a welcome step by the Supreme Court to stay the directive but it is important that the committee which is going to be formed should have ecologists, environmentalists and not just bureaucrats,” she said. Neelam Ahluwalia, founder member of the People for Aravallis group, termed the Supreme Court directive as an “interim win”.

“What we actually require is for the Government to stop all mining activities in the Aravallis. We need a complete, detailed, independent environment and social impact assessment, cumulative of the entire range, on people’s health and the ecosystem to determine how much of the Aravalli has already been destroyed,” she said.

Ahluwalia said, “We will not back down until all our demands are met and the Aravallis are protected on the ground.” Environmentalist Vimlendu Jha termed the Supreme Court order as an “unprecedented decision.” “The fact that the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance and heard the matter on merit... Put its own order in abeyance, asking the Government to re-look into the issue and also an order to constitute a new panel... This is an unprecedented move,” he told the media.

Vijay Dhasmana, an ecological restoration practitioner, said, “There are two lobbies, including the real-estate and mining lobby, which are dominating the argument on the new definition of Aravallis but the fact remains that any geological features of the Aravallis have not been defined yet...”

The Supreme Court on November 20 accepted a uniform definition of the Aravalli hills and ranges and banned the grant of fresh mining leases inside its areas spanning Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat until experts’ reports are out. The Supreme Court accepted the recommendations of a committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on the definition of the Aravalli hills and ranges to protect the world’s oldest mountain system.

The committee had recommended that “Aravalli Hill” be defined as any landform in designated Aravalli districts with an elevation of 100 metres or more above its local relief, and an “Aravalli Range” will be a collection of two or more such hills within 500 metres of each other.

Activists, scientists and the opposition have been alleging that the redefinition could open vast stretches of the fragile mountain ecosystem to mining. Those who opposed the Centre’s new definition alleged that it was done without adequate scientific assessment or public consultation. So, it risks exposing large parts of the Aravallis across Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat to mining.