Real estate development opened up by Rajasthan's double-engine govt to hurt Aravallis more: Congress

The Congress has been strongly opposed to the redefinition of the Aravallis and has raised concerns over it, claiming that this will lead to destroying the hills by opening them to mining, real estate and other projects

• Congress warns real estate in Aravallis will worsen ecosystem damage
• Supreme Court to hear issue on Aravalli hills' definition and protection
• Fresh mining leases in Aravallis banned until expert reports are reviewed

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The Congress on Monday claimed that not just mining, but the real estate development that is being opened up by the double-engine government in Rajasthan will cause further havoc in an "already devastated" ecosystem of the Aravallis.

Congress general secretary and former environment minister Jairam Ramesh said this is being done against the recommendations of the Forest Survey of India.

"As the nation awaits the Supreme Court's latest directives on the Aravallis, here is more evidence of how the new definition of the Aravallis will cause further havoc in an already devastated ecosystem.

"It is not just mining but real estate development that is being opened up by the double-engine sarkar in New Delhi-Jaipur against the recommendations of the Forest Survey of India," Ramesh said in a post on X.

The Congress has been strongly opposed to the redefinition of the Aravallis and has raised concerns over it, claiming that this will lead to destroying the hills by opening them to mining, real estate and other projects.

Amid the row over the definition of the Aravalli hills approved by it, the Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the issue and is slated to hear the matter on Monday.

The top court on November 20 had 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 apex court had accepted the recommendations of a committee of the MoEF&CC (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 recommended that "Aravalli Hill" will 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.