Supreme Court on Aravalli Hills: To decide the definition of Aravalli hills, the Supreme Court has formed a high-level expert committee of five members. This committee will decide which areas come within the scope of Aravalli hills i.e. what should be its definition. The court said that decisions affecting the environment should not be taken without the opinion of experts.
The bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi gave this order. The court has directed the committee to file its detailed report by August 31. The next hearing of the case will be on September 7.
Who are in the expert committee of 5 members?
The chairman of this high-level expert committee of five members will be the Director General of ICFRE. Four other big experts are also included with him.
- Dr. Subhash Ashutosh (Former Director General, Forest Survey of India)
- Dr. Rajendra Kumar Sharma (Former Director, Geological Survey of India)
- Brij Mohan Singh Rathore (Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment)
- Pro. Ashok K. Bhatnagar (Former Head of Department, Department of Botany, Delhi University)
Supreme Court IIHS Prof. Jagadish Krishnaswamy and Prof. of Haryana Central University. Laxmikant Sharma has also been nominated as a special invitee to join the committee from time to time. An officer of the rank of Director in MoEFCC will act as Member Secretary. The Supreme Court directed the committee to issue a public notice.
The Supreme Court said that it is necessary to examine the experts whether the current definition, which divides the Aravalli hills into two or more Aravali Limiting land to a radius of 500 meters between hills may significantly shrink the protected area and expand the scope of ‘non-Aravalli’ areas, thereby encouraging rampant mining and other destructive activities there.
What are the current rules regarding Aravali?
According to the current rule, if there is a distance of more than 500 meters between two Aravali hills, then the part between them is not considered Aravali. The Supreme Court has also entrusted the committee with the task of investigating whether out of 12,081 hills of Rajasthan, only 1048 hills meet the prescribed height limit of 100 meters and whether the remaining thousands of hills are deprived of environmental protection.
This decision of the Supreme Court is being considered very important towards the conservation of Aravalli region. This team of experts will now review the extent and definition of the Aravalli hills on scientific and geographical basis, so that in future this eco system can be protected from illegal mining and construction activities.
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