The Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has recently issued directions to the States for a complete ban on the grant of any new mining leases in the Aravallis. This prohibition applies uniformly across the entire Aravalli landscape. Further, the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) has been asked to identify additional areas or zones in the entire Aravalli range where mining should be prohibited, over and above the areas already restricted.

The Opposition has been spreading deliberate misinformation about the new, uniform definition of the Aravalli hills and range. No less than the Supreme Court has acknowledged the Modi government’s efforts to check rampant illegal mining. The Opposition and the so-called climate lobby claim that the new definition dilutes environmental protection of the Aravallis, which is false. In fact, the new definition strengthens protection by introducing a uniform, scientific and enforceable framework, resolving decades of ambiguity caused by multiple conflicting definitions.

The other baseless allegation by the Congress Party and its cheerleaders is that the new definition opens up 90 per cent of the Aravalli region for mining, which is completely misleading. The new definition does not permit mining automatically in any area. It only standardises what constitutes the Aravalli hills and ranges using scientific and geomorphological criteria. The new definition does not dilute, suspend or override any of the following: the Environment Protection Act, 1986; the Forest Conservation Act, 1980; the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972; and the EIA Notification. All statutory environmental, forest and wildlife clearances remain mandatory.

Any mining or construction, whether inside or outside the defined hill ranges, continues to require full statutory approvals. No land is automatically released for mining due to the new definition. New mining can be permitted only after a Mining Plan for Sustainable Mining (MPSM) is prepared by ICFRE, on the lines of the Saranda Forest model in Jharkhand. ICFRE has yet to identify district-wise ecologically sensitive, conservation-critical and restoration-priority areas across the 37 districts. Until this process is completed, bogus claims by fake activists that “90 per cent of the Aravallis are opened up" have no factual basis.

The allegation that the new definition allows mining in all landforms below 100 metres height is yet another reckless claim, and it is incorrect. All States unanimously agreed to adopt the “100 metres above local relief" criterion, which has been in force in Rajasthan since 9 January 2006. So why has the Congress suddenly decided to outrage?

All landforms enclosed within the lowest binding contour encircling hills of 100 metres or more—irrespective of individual height or slope—are excluded from mining leases. The Aravalli range is defined to include all landforms within........

© News18