SC forms expert committee to reassess definition and protection of Aravalli Range

The Supreme Court has set up a fivemember HighPowered Committee to formulate a uniform definition and demarcation of the ecologically sensitive Aravalli Hills and Range for regulating future mining activitiesA bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi directed the committee to submit a conservation report by August 31Constituting the expert committee the bench observed that matters affecting ecological conservation and sustainable development cannot be resolved without informed expert evaluation and entrusted the committee with reassessing the existing framework relating to the AravallisIt said that any future action must be based on scientific assessment and aligned with the principles of environmental protection and sustainable developmentThe committee will be headed by Kanchan Devi Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education as per a May 25 order which was made online on TuesdayThe apex court noted that expert evaluation was required to examine concerns that the current definition of the Aravalli Rangelimited to land within 500 metres between two or more Aravalli hillsmay significantly reduce the extent of protected areasIt observed that such a narrow interpretation could classify ecologically linked regions as nonAravalli areas potentially opening them up to mining and other environmentally harmful activitiesThe committee has also been directed to examine concerns that only 1048 of Rajasthans 12081 Hills satisfy the prescribed 100metre height criterion potentially leaving a vast number of Hill formations outside the ambit of environmental protectionHighlighting the ecological fragility and biodiversity significance of the Aravalli region the top court said the Committee must objectively evaluate whether the proposed measures could lead to environmental impacts that may be irreversible or difficult to remedyIt stressed that any final decision should be grounded in scientific assessment and aligned with the principles of environmental conservation and sustainable developmentIt must be emphasised that decisions of such farreaching consequence ought not to be taken without the benefit of expert evaluation The proposed Committee would be expected to objectively assess the implications of the measures contemplated and assist this Court in determining whether their implementation may give rise to ecological environmental or other consequences that may subsequently prove difficult if not impossible to reverse the order statedSuch an exercise is essential to ensure that any course of action adopted is informed scientifically sound and consistent with the principles of environmental protection and sustainable development it addedThe members include Dr Subhash Ashutosh former Director General of the Forest Survey of India Dr Rajendra Kumar Sharma former Director of the Geological Survey of India Brij Mohan Singh Rathore former Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change MoEFCC and Prof Ashok K Bhatnagar former Head of the Department of Botany at Delhi UniversityThe apex court also named Professor Jagdish Krishnaswamy of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements and Professor Laxmikant Sharma of the Central University of Haryana as special invitees to be associated with the Committee from time to time and an officer of the rank of Director in the MoEFCC will serve as Member SecretaryThe apex court while noting that the issues involved affect a broad spectrum of stakeholders including the governments of Delhi Rajasthan and Haryana environmental groups mining lease holders farmers mine workers and local communities directed the committee to issue a public notice inviting representations and suggestions from all interested persons and entitiesThe order of the top court came in the suo motu proceedings concerning the definition of the Aravalli Hills and RangesThe matter will be next heard on September 7 Earlier top court had stayed mining across the entire Aravalli regionThe Aravalli Range functions as the ecological lifeline of northwestern India acting as a vital natural barrier between the arid desert regions of the northwest and the fertile plains of northern IndiaThis 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