Experts seek wider Aravali review before Supreme Court panel’s August 31 report

A Supreme Court-appointed committee due to file its Aravali report by August 31 is facing calls to extend its work after environmental experts and rural representatives said its field visit did not include several affected areas in Haryana.

The panel travelled through nine districts in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan between August 6 and 11 and held public hearings in Gurugram, Alwar, Ajmer and Udaipur, the Aravali Virasat Jan Abhiyaan said. But stakeholders said it did not visit places affected by mining, stone crushing, waste dumping and burning in Gurugram, Faridabad and Nuh. They also identified mining and stone-crushing areas in Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri and Mahendragarh as left out.

Inderjit Singh of the All India Kisan Sabha said communities along the 700-km range have depended on farming and cattle rearing, while mining has affected water availability, agricultural land and grazing areas.

The committee was formed amid a legal dispute over how Aravali hills should be identified and protected. Environmental groups have warned that a 100-metre elevation criterion could exclude ecologically important slopes and buffer areas from protection. Stakeholders have asked for a cumulative environmental and social impact assessment across the range before decisions on mining and development are made.