Congress hits out at govt over new Aravalli definition

The Congress on Thursday unleashed a sharp rebuke against the Modi government after reports emerged that the environment ministry has proposed a sweeping new definition of the ancient Aravalli Hills — one the party warns could carry grave ecological and public-health fallout.

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh, invoking both alarm and irony, said the move is cloaked in the language of conservation but could, in effect, erase nearly 90 per cent of the Aravalli range from official recognition.

"The Aravalli Hills extend from Delhi through Haryana and Rajasthan to Gujarat. Over the years they have been devastated by mining, construction, and other activities in violation of all regulations and laws," the former environment minister said on X.

Stretching from Delhi through Haryana and Rajasthan to Gujarat, the Aravallis — among the world’s oldest mountain systems — have already suffered decades of assault from mining, construction and unchecked human activity, Ramesh said. Now, he warned, this fragile ecosystem stands on the brink of “another severe blow.”

Citing a report in The Indian Express, Ramesh noted that the ministry has recommended to the Supreme Court a new definition under which only landforms rising 100 metres or more above local relief, along with their adjoining slopes, would qualify as Aravalli Hills. The Supreme Court, he said, has already accepted the recommendation.

What the definition omits, however, is its devastating implication: vast stretches of the Aravallis — low-lying yet ecologically vital — would no longer be protected. Such reclassification, Ramesh argued, could unlock large swathes of the range for mining and construction, imperilling biodiversity and worsening the air quality of the National Capital Region.

Calling the move “bizarre,” he demanded an immediate review, warning that the supposed good intentions behind the proposal may be nothing more than a perilous path.

As he put it with pointed emphasis: “The road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions.”

With PTI inputs