NEW DELHI: Union Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav said that mining would not be allowed in the Delhi-NCR region, and protected forests and areas of the Aravalli range will remain untouched. “No mining will be allowed in Delhi, Nuh, Faridabad, and Gurgaon,” Yadav said while releasing a report, titled “Eco-restoration of Aravalli Landscape,” prepared by the Sankala Foundation, a non-profit organisation.
The report presents a replicable eco-restoration framework that uses an integrated landscape-based approach to strengthen biodiversity, ecosystem services, and climate resilience across the Aravalli landscape.
“The Aravalli range comprises four tiger reserves and 18 protected areas, with 13 in Rajasthan, three in Haryana, and two in Gujarat. This network plays a key role in protecting the Aravalli range,” he said.
He added that efforts are underway to prevent land degradation and conserve biodiversity through the Aravalli Green Wall Project. India launched this project in 2023 as part of its commitment under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030.
Concerns over the Aravallis’ conservation grew after the Supreme Court approved recommendations of a committee led by the Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, to redefine the range’s boundaries to allow mining.
The redefinition considers only areas above 100 metres in elevation, making nearly 90 percent of the Aravalli landscape vulnerable to open-cast mining. Yadav defended the court order, saying it would help conservation efforts. The decision went against the advice of the SC’s Central Empowered Committee. After public outcry across the four states, the court agreed to review its earlier ruling.