New Delhi, Nov. 27 -- Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday issued an urgent warning, calling for an immediate review of a Supreme Court-accepted definition for the Aravalli Hills. He cautioned that the new criterion could strip legal protection from approximately 90 percent of the vital hill range, opening vast tracts to unregulated mining and construction.
The controversy centers on a definition recommended by the union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and formally adopted by the Supreme Court in a November 20 judgment. This new uniform definition classifies "Aravalli Hills" only as landforms in designated districts with an elevation of at least 100 meters above their local relief.
Ramesh, in a pos...