Now Reading: Aravalli panel failed on public consultation, environmentalists tell SC committee
-
01
Aravalli panel failed on public consultation, environmentalists tell SC committee
Aravalli panel failed on public consultation, environmentalists tell SC committee
Environmental group Aravalli Virasat Jan Abhiyan (AVJA) has told the Supreme Court-constituted high-powered committee that it has not done enough scientific study, field trips or public consultation on the Aravalli mountain range.…
Environmental group Aravalli Virasat Jan Abhiyan (AVJA) has told the Supreme Court-constituted high-powered committee that it has not done enough scientific study, field trips or public consultation on the Aravalli mountain range. With the panel's August 31 deadline approaching, independent experts and conservationists have written to the committee expressing concern, AVJA said on Tuesday.
Ecologist Pradip Krishen said the committee has a historic chance to do a cumulative environmental and social impact study covering all 64 Aravalli districts. Stalin Dayanand of Vanashakti urged the panel to seek more time, broaden consultation, include independent experts, and listen to rural and adivasi communities instead of rushing its report.
The Supreme Court formed the high-powered committee in May after keeping in abeyance its November 20 judgment that had accepted a government expert panel's narrow definition of the Aravallis. The new panel must evaluate the earlier October 2025 report that the judgment was based on.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The August 31 deadline puts the committee in an awkward spot: a rushed report would repeat the flaw that led the Supreme Court to set aside its own earlier judgment in December 2025. The earlier government panel had defined the Aravallis only as hills of 100 metres or more, a cut-off that excluded vast stretches of the range. The new panel's task is explicitly to correct that by studying all 64 districts, but doing so in roughly three months is all but impossible if it involves genuine field visits. The court itself will decide whether to accept a late submission or to extend the deadline, making the committee's next move a signal of how seriously the process is being taken.
Under the Supreme Court's May 25 order, the high-powered committee is chaired by the Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, with a MoEF&CC director as member secretary.
Source: thehindu.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
