Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Dec 21: Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupendra Yadav on Sunday firmly dismissed allegations that the Centre has weakened environmental safeguards for the Aravalli hills, asserting that nearly 90 per cent of the ecologically sensitive range will continue to remain under protection.
Speaking to media, Yadav said there were “no relaxations” granted to the Aravalli range, which spans across Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat, and clarified that misinformation was being spread regarding the new definition of the hills. He noted that a petition related to the Aravallis has been pending before the courts since 1985.
Addressing confusion over the “100-metre” criterion, the minister said some sections were wrongly interpreting it as the top 100 metres of the hills. “The 100 metres refers to the spread of the hill from top to bottom, and even the gaps between two hill ranges will be treated as part of the Aravalli. With this definition, around 90 per cent of the Aravalli landscape comes under the protected zone,” he explained.
Yadav underlined that mining activities would continue to be strictly regulated. He said the total Aravalli area is about 1.47 lakh square kilometres, of which only around 217 square kilometres — roughly two per cent — is eligible for mining. Even in this limited area, mining can proceed only after preparation of a Management Plan for Sustainable Mining, as directed by the Supreme Court, and with prior approval from the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE).
He further clarified that mining is completely prohibited in the Aravalli region within Delhi. “All protected areas and forest reserves in Delhi will remain untouched. The government has been implementing the Green Aravalli programme for the past two years. We are fully committed to conserving the Aravallis, but a false narrative is being created,” the minister said.
The issue has sparked political debate, with opposition parties including the Congress and the Samajwadi Party criticising the Supreme Court ruling and warning of potential ecological damage. BJP leaders, however, have rejected these claims as misleading.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X, described the Aravallis as a natural shield for the Delhi-NCR region and said their protection was crucial for the capital’s survival. He warned that further degradation could worsen air pollution, biodiversity loss and extreme temperatures, severely impacting public health.
Meanwhile, environmental activists have staged protests from Gurugram in Haryana to Udaipur in Rajasthan, expressing fears that the revised definition of the Aravalli hills could disturb the ecological balance of one of India’s oldest mountain ranges.