The Congress on Tuesday dismissed the government’s clarifications on the proposed mining project in the Aravalli hills, saying the range’s fragmentation will damage the inter-connected ecosystem.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary, Jairam Ramesh, said recent “clarifications” by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, on the ancient hilly range raises even more questions, leaving its fate mired in doubt.
“Aravallis are a 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? To what end? For whose benefit?” asked Ramesh.
“And why are the recommendations of a professional organisation like the Forest Survey of India being deliberately ignored and set aside?” he added.
Alleging the “very recent clarifications given by the Union Minister for Environment, Forests, and Climate Change on the Aravallis issue raise even more questions and doubts,” the Congress leader drew attention to a lack of clarity on how much area would be used for developmental activities.
“There is no clarity whatsoever about how much of these Aravalli areas will be excluded under the new definition and made available for mining and other developments,” he said.
Jairam Ramesh, who has formerly served as the Environment Minister, said that an area of 0.19 per cent of the total 1.44 lakh sq. km. of the Aravallis that’s presently under mining leases already amounts to 68,000 acres, which is a vast swath.
“The 1.44 lakh sq. km. figure is deceptive – it spans the entire landmass of the 34 Aravalli districts identified by the ministry in four states. This is a wrong denominator, since the denominator that should actually be used is the area within these districts that’s actually under the Aravallis,” he said, adding that in 15 of the 34 districts for which data is verifiable, the area under the Aravallis is 33 per cent of the entire landmass.
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“If the area under the Aravallis is used as a base, then 0.19 per cent will turn out to be a very huge under-estimate,” he said.
“If local profiles are adopted as a baseline as the minister is suggesting, many 100+ metres high hills will get excluded from protective cover.
With the revised definition, most hilly tracts of the Aravallis in the Delhi NCR will get opened up for real estate development adding to environmental stress.”
Ramesh also alleged that Yadav, “who is leading the move to redefine the boundaries of the Sariska Tiger Reserve to allow for mining”, had overlooked a fundamental concern that “fragmentation of what is essentially an interconnected ecosystem will damage its ecological value”.
“Such fragmentation elsewhere is already causing havoc,” he said.
On Monday, Yadav had accused the Congress of spreading “misinformation” on the issue of the new definition of the Aravallis, and stressed that mining can be carried out legally in only 0.19 per cent of the area of the mountain range.
At a press briefing, he said the Narendra Modi government remains “fully committed” to protecting and restoring the Aravallis.
“The Congress, which allowed rampant illegal mining in Rajasthan during its tenure, is spreading confusion, misinformation and lies about the issue,” Yadav alleged.
In November 2025, the Supreme Court accepted a uniform legal definition of what constitutes the Aravalli Hills and Aravalli Range on the recommendation of a committee led by the Environment Ministry.
Under this definition, an “Aravalli Hill” is a landform with an elevation of at least 100 metres above its local surrounding terrain and an “Aravalli Range” is a cluster of two or more such hills within 500 metres of each other.
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