Jaipur: Political rhetoric has started in Rajasthan over the “Save Aravalli” campaign as the ruling BJP has targeted Congress leaders and former CM Ashok Gehlot for allegedly misleading the people on the issue.
Former leader of the opposition and senior BJP leader Rajendra Rathore alleged that Ashok Gehlot is trying to create confusion in the name of saving the Aravalli range, while the reality is that the decisions taken by the Congress government led by Ashok Gehlot in 2002 regarding the Aravalli range are the reason for the current situation.
“The definition of 100 meters for the Aravalli range was established by the government led by Ashok Gehlot in the year 2002 by giving statutory approval to the 1968 landform classification and by submitting an affidavit in the court a decade and a half ago when Gehlot was again in power,” claimed Rathore.
Rathore said that based on the definition given by the Gehlot government at that time, 1000 mines were granted at different times. Of these, more than 700 mining leases were granted by Ashok Gehlot during his tenure. Now he is trying to cover up his actions by supporting the Save Aravali campaign.
Rajendra Rathore said that approximately 25 percent of the Aravalli range falls under sanctuaries, national parks, and reserved forests, where mining is completely prohibited. Furthermore, only about 2.56 percent of the entire Aravalli region is subject to mining, and that too under limited, controlled conditions and strict regulations, so Ashok Gehlot's statement of affecting 90 percent of the Aravalli range is completely false and misleading.
Rathore said that the Aravalli range is undoubtedly the lifeline of Rajasthan, and the central and state governments are committed to saving it.
Notably, the Supreme Court has recently approved the new definition of the Aravalli Range that provides that only landforms with an elevation of 100 meters or more will be considered Aravalli hills. The environmentalists and civil society organizations are protesting this, and Ashok Gehlot extended his support to them.
