In a setback to environmentalists’ campaign to protect India’s fragile hill ecosystems, the Union government has asserted that tunnelling through hills for road projects does not require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Green groups say the disclosure exposes a serious regulatory gap at a time when campaigns to protect hill systems are intensifying nationwide, from the Himalayas to the Aravalli range, the Sahyadris and the Parsik Hills.

Public anger over rampant mining and hill destruction in the Aravallis has already drawn the attention of the Supreme Court, which has taken note of citizen outrage. The Centre’s position emerged from a response given by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to a query filed by the NatConnect Foundation. The query sought details of environmental........

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