Environmental groups raised alarm about accelerating real estate encroachments in the Aravalli Hills even as the Supreme Court demanded expert-led boundary demarcation. Construction and mining pressure threatens remnant forest cover and wildlife corridors in an ecologically sensitive range bordering major urban centers.
Developers seek land near the National Capital Region for residential and commercial projects, capitalizing on connectivity improvements while environmental laws restrict activity on classified forest and conservation zones. Ambiguous boundaries historically enabled legal disputes over whether specific plots fall inside protected delineations.
Activists document illegal fencing, road cutting, and stone crushing operations that persist despite periodic enforcement drives and court orders. Local communities depend on Aravalli groundwater recharge and dust suppression benefits degraded when hills are flattened or fragmented.
Supreme Court insistence on expert committees aims to reduce arbitrary line-drawing susceptible to administrative manipulation, though environmentalists stress final boundaries must reflect science rather than minimal compliance with composition orders alone.
State pollution control boards and forest departments face capacity constraints monitoring vast foothill areas where encroachment outpaces inspection frequency, prompting calls for satellite monitoring and community reporting mechanisms. Judicial monitoring of expert committee progress may include monthly affidavits from state chief secretaries documenting encroachment removal actions taken in zones interim maps identify as within protected Aravalli delineations pending final reports.
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Sources:
https://www.business-standard.com/india-news