Congress leader Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh target BJP over Aravalli issue, what did they say?
Congress leaders Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh have targeted the BJP government over the Aravalli issue.
Commenting on Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav's statement regarding the controversy over the Aravalli hills, Congress leader Pawan Khera said, "I don't think they are talking about Green Aravalli, they are talking about Clean Aravalli, that is they just want to remove the hills."
Khera said, "They are playing into the hands of the mining mafia, the real estate mafia, and they are disturbing the ecological balance in the entire area. Aravsalli constitutes a very large part of this country. The government is destroying the natural barrier between the Thar desert and Delhi, Haryana and many other areas."
The Congress has said that the clarification given by Bhupendra Yadav regarding the Aravalli issue raises many more questions and casts deep suspicion on the entire matter.
Figure of 1.44 lakh square kilometers is misleading: Ramesh
Congress communication department in-charge Jairam Ramesh said the Environment Minister's clarification on the Aravalli issue is vague and the figures given are misleading, raising many questions and doubts.
He said, "According to the Union Minister, only 0.19 percent of the 1.44 lakh square kilometer area of the Aravalli is currently under mining leases, but this is also approximately 68,000 acres, which is a very large area in itself. However, the figure of 1.44 lakh square kilometers is misleading. It includes the entire geographical area of 34 Aravalli districts across four states. This is a wrong basis, because the correct basis should be the land area actually covered by the Aravalli within these districts. If the actual area of the Aravalli is considered as the basis, then the figure of 0.19 percent will prove to be a gross underestimation."
'Most of Aravalli hill areas in NCR will open up for real estate development'
Ramesh stated that if the local profile is used as the basis, as suggested by the Environment Minister, many hills with a height of more than 100 meters would also be excluded from the protection zone. After the revised definition, most of the Aravalli hill areas in Delhi-NCR will be opened up for real estate development, further increasing the pressure on the environment.
Ramesh said that Yadav, who is spearheading the redefinition of the boundaries of the Sariska Tiger Reserve with the aim of allowing mining, is ignoring the fundamental concern that the fragmentation of a fundamentally interconnected ecosystem severely damages its ecological value, and its adverse consequences are already being seen in other parts of the country.
'Aravallis are part of our natural heritage'
He said that the Aravallis are part of our natural heritage and their ecological importance is invaluable. They require extensive restoration and robust conservation. Why is the Modi government so determined to redefine them? For what purpose, for whose benefit, and why are the recommendations of professional institutions like the Forest Survey of India being deliberately ignored and sidelined?
Following the Supreme Court's decision to change the definition of the Aravalli hills, protests have erupted across almost all of North India.
Amidst the protests against the 'new definition' of the Aravalli hills, Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav has accused some people of spreading misinformation on the matter.