Congress slams Modi govt on Aravalli issue, asks why 'hell-bent' on redefining mounta
Congress slams Modi govt on Aravalli issue, asks why 'hell-bent' on redefining mountain range
M.U.H
23/12/202523
The Congress on Tuesday accused the Modi government of undermining the ecological integrity of the Aravalli mountain range, questioning why it was “hell-bent” on redefining the ancient hills and who stood to benefit from the move.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Aravallis are part of India’s natural heritage and require restoration and strong protection, not dilution through technical redefinitions.
“The Aravallis have great ecological value. Why is the Modi government determined to redefine them? To what end, and for whose benefit?” Ramesh asked, adding that recommendations of professional bodies such as the Forest Survey of India were being ignored.
Referring to recent “clarifications” by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, Ramesh said they raised more doubts. While the minister has stated that mining is permitted in only 0.19 per cent of the 1.44 lakh sq km identified Aravalli area, Ramesh argued that the figure was misleading.
He claimed the calculation wrongly uses the total land area of 34 Aravalli districts across four states as the base, instead of the actual area covered by the Aravalli hills within those districts. “If the correct denominator is used, 0.19 per cent would turn out to be a significant under-estimate,” he said.
Ramesh further claimed that in 15 of the 34 districts where data is available, the Aravallis account for about 33 per cent of the total land area, and warned that the revised definition could exclude large hilly tracts from protection.
“With local elevation profiles as the baseline, many hills over 100 metres high may lose protection. In the Delhi-NCR, this could open up large parts of the Aravallis to real estate development, worsening environmental stress,” he said.
He also expressed concern that redefining and fragmenting the Aravallis, an interconnected ecosystem, would damage its ecological value, citing similar impacts seen elsewhere.
On Monday, Yadav accused the Congress of spreading “misinformation”, asserting that mining is legally allowed in only 0.19 per cent of the Aravalli region and that the Narendra Modi government remains fully committed to protecting and restoring the range. He alleged that the Congress had allowed rampant illegal mining in Rajasthan during its tenure.
In November 2025, the Supreme Court accepted a uniform legal definition of the Aravalli Hills and Aravalli Range based on the recommendations of an Environment Ministry-led committee. Under the definition, an Aravalli Hill is a landform rising at least 100 metres above the surrounding terrain, while an Aravalli Range consists of two or more such hills located within 500 metres of each other.
