Pandala hills illegal mining site, one of the 16 Aravallis illegal stone and sand mining sites in Nuh, Gurugram and Faridabad in Haryana. File Image | Photo credit: VV Krishnan
The Aravallis are the country’s natural heritage and have great ecological value, the Congress said on Tuesday (Dec 23, 2025) as it questioned why the Modi government was “hell bent” on redefining the range and for whose benefit.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the recent “clarifications” given by the environment and forest minister on the ancient mountain range raise more questions.
“The Aravallis are part of our natural heritage and have great ecological value. They need substantial restoration and meaningful protection. Why is the Modi government hell-bent on redefining them? For what purpose? For whose benefit?
“And why are the recommendations of a professional body like the Forest Survey of India being deliberately ignored and shelved?” he asked.
Mr. Ramesh also said, “The very recent ‘clarifications’ given by the Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on the Aravallis issue raise even more questions and doubts.”
The Congress leader, who was a former environment minister, said that the minister is saying that only 0.19% or 1.44 lakh sq km of the Aravallis is currently under mining lease and that is already 68,000 acres, which is a huge swath.
“However, the figure of 1.44 lakh square meters is misleading – it includes the entire land area of the 34 Aravalli districts that the ministry has identified in four states. This is the wrong denominator as the denominator that should actually be used is the area in these districts that actually falls under the Aravallis.”
“If the area under the Aravallis is used as the base, then 0.19% turns out to be a huge understatement,” he said.
Mr. Ramesh claimed that in 15 of the 34 districts for which data is verifiable, the area under the Aravallis is 33% of the entire landmass.
It is not at all clear how much of these Aravalli areas will be excluded under the new definition and made available for mining and further development, he said.
“If the local profiles are adopted as the default, as the Minister suggests, many 100+ meter high hills will be excluded from the shelter.
“With the revised definition, most of the Aravallis hilly areas in Delhi NCR will be opened up for real estate development, which will add to the environmental stress,” he said.
The minister, who is leading a move to redefine the boundaries of the Sariska Tiger Reserve to allow mining, ignores the fundamental concern that fragmentation of what is essentially an interconnected ecosystem will damage its ecological value, he said, adding that such fragmentation is already wreaking havoc elsewhere.
Mr Yadav on Monday accused the Congress of spreading “misinformation” on the issue of the new definition of the Aravallis, pointing out that mining can be done legally on only 0.19% of the range’s area.
He told a press conference that the Narendra Modi government remains “fully committed” to protecting and restoring the Aravallis.
“The Congress, which allowed rampant illegal mining during its tenure in Rajasthan, is spreading confusion, misinformation and lies on the issue,” the minister said.
In November 2025, the Supreme Court adopted a uniform legal definition of what constitutes the Aravalli Hills and the Aravalli Range on the recommendation of a committee headed by the environment ministry.
According to this definition, an “Aravalli Hill” is a terrain with an elevation of at least 100 meters above the local surrounding terrain and an “Aravalli Range” is a cluster of two or more such hills within 500 meters of each other.
Center rejects claims of mining, says Aravalli hills remain protected
Center rejects claims of mining, says Aravalli Hills remain protected | Video Credit: The Hindu
Published – 23 Dec 2025 12:33 IST
