Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that since coming to power, the Modi government has displayed a particularly “venal streak of cynicism” in relation to environmental protection, while alleging that it has now “nearly signed a death warrant” for Aravalli hills.
She demanded that the government must withdraw the amendments it “bulldozed” through Parliament in the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 as well as the Forest Conservation Rules (2022).
Gandhi said the government’s declaration that any hills in the Aravalli range with an elevation of less than 100 metres are not subject to the strictures against mining is an open invitation for illegal miners and mafias to finish off 90% of the range which falls below the height limit set.
