Congress welcomes SC decision to stay '100-metre definition' of Aravallis

New Delhi, Dec 29 (PTI) The Congress on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to stay its November 20 order on the new definition of the Aravalli range, and demanded the resignation of Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, saying all his arguments in favour of the redefinition have been rejected.
    The apex court kept in abeyance the directions in its November 20 verdict that had accepted a uniform definition of the Aravalli hills and ranges recommended by a committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. It also proposed to constitute a high-powered committee comprising domain experts to undertake an exhaustive and holistic examination of the issue.
    The committee had recommended that Aravalli Hill be defined as any landform in designated Aravalli districts with an elevation of 100 metres or more above its local relief, and the Aravalli Range will be a collection of two or more such hills within 500 metres of each other.
    The Congress had strongly opposed the redefinition and raised concerns over it, claiming that this would lead to destroying the hills by opening them to mining, real estate and other projects.
    In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the directive gives a "flicker of hope".
    "The Indian National Congress welcomes the directives given by the Supreme Court on the redefinition of the Aravallis being pushed through by the (Narendra) Modi government," Ramesh said.
    "The issue is now to be studied in greater detail. It needs to be recalled that the redefinition has been opposed by the Forest Survey of India, the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court, and by the amicus curiae himself," he said.
    The Congress leader said there is now a temporary respite, but the struggle to save the Aravallis from the "machinations of the Modi government" to open it up to mining, real estate, and other activities will have to be resisted in a sustained manner.
    Ramesh also said that in light of the Supreme Court's latest order, the Union environment minister must resign immediately. "It (the SC order) is a rejection of all the arguments he has been giving in favour of the redefinition," he said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)