Environment Ministry Announces Ban on New Mining Leases in Aravallis – But It’s Not New |
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New Delhi: Following the huge uproar and outrage against the new definition for the Aravallis – which the Supreme Court accepted on November 20 – the Union environment ministry on Wednesday (December 24) announced that it has issued directions to states that the hill range spans to implement a “complete ban” on granting any new mining leases in the Aravallis.
However, this is not new.
This is merely what the Supreme Court necessitated that the Union environment ministry do, in its order dated November 20 – the same order in which it accepted a uniform new definition of the Aravallis, that only hills above a local relief of 100 metres or more, among others, would qualify as the Aravalli hill range.
With environmentalists raising concerns that this could mean that a large part of the hill range would be opened up to mining, widespread protests have occurred in Rajasthan over the past week. Opposition parties have also lent support to the protests and the issue also garnered extensive media coverage.
There will be a “complete ban” on granting any new mining leases across the Aravallis in all four states that the hill range spans and this “applies uniformly across the entire Aravalli landscape and is intended to preserve the integrity of the range”, a press release by the ministry on December 24 said.
“The directions are aimed at safeguarding the Aravallis as a continuous........