SC : Today, the will convene a vital suo motu hearing on the concept of Aravalli
SC: Concerns over the preservation of the environmentally delicate range in light of the government’s pledges are anticipated to be discussed at the Supreme Court’s important suo motu hearing on matters pertaining to the definition of the Aravalli Hills, which is set for Monday.
A bench made up of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices J.K. Maheshwari and A.G. Masih will hear the suo motu writ petition, “In Re: Definition of Aravalli Hills and Ranges and Ancillary Issues,” on December 29, according to the causelist posted on the highest court’s website.
Growing worries over the preservation of the environmentally delicate Aravalli range and the government’s repeated promises to do so have prompted the Supreme Court to take up the matter on its own initiative.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has ordered state governments to implement a “complete ban” on awarding any new mining licenses in the Aravallis in a clear attempt to stop illicit mining and improve ecological protection.
According to the Ministry, the ban would be applied consistently across the Aravalli region, which includes the mountain range spanning from Delhi to Gujarat. It emphasized that the goal is to stop uncontrolled mining operations and “preserve the integrity of the range as a continuous geological ridge.”
In order to further strengthen the conservation framework, the MoEFCC has directed the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) to, in addition to the places currently limited by the Center, identify further zones and locations across the whole Aravalli range where mining must be forbidden.
In a similar incident, Congressman and former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh expressed grave worries about the recent redefining of the Aravalli Hills in a letter to Union Minister for Environment, Forests, and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav on Sunday.
According to him, the new criteria limits their designation to features that are at least 100 meters above sea level.
“This is my most recent letter to the Union Minister of Environment, Forests & Climate Change asking four-pointed questions on the disastrous redefinition of the Aravallis,” Ramesh posted on the social networking site X on Sunday.
In the letter dated December 28, the Congress leader raised four specific questions in an attempt to get clarification from the minister over what he characterized as widespread concerns regarding the new definition. “There are understandably widespread concerns with the re-definition of the Aravalli Hills that restrict them to landforms having an elevation of 100 meters or more,” he wrote in an address to Minister Yadav. Permit me to suggest four particular questions for your consideration in this regard.