Neelam Ahluwalia and Kailash Meena addressing a press conference on Aravalli Virasat Jan Bhiyan in New Delhi on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
The Aravalli Virasat Jan Abhiyaan (AVJA), a coalition of environmentalists and activists, wrote to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Tuesday and expressed “grave concerns” over a committee constituted by the Supreme Court to examine the definition of the mountain range and related issues.
The AVJA demanded that the Supreme Court modify the committee so that neither its Chairperson nor Member Secretary is a serving officer of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) or any of its autonomous councils, bodies or authorities.
“An independent expert with domain knowledge of the Aravalli region who does not report to the MoEF&CC must be appointed as the chairperson of the new committee. The Member Secretary also must not be part of the MoEF&CC or under its control,” the letter read. The representation was submitted on the eve of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.
The group also demanded that the “regressive” uniform definition of the Aravalis accepted by the Supreme Court order on November 20, 2025 must be scrapped.
Published – June 16, 2026 10:49 pm IST
