The Supreme Court-appointed high-powered committee examining the definition, ecological integrity and conservation of the Aravalli Hills and Ranges will visit southern Rajasthan from October 11 to 13, with public and stakeholder consultations scheduled in Dungarpur and Banswara.
The committee, headed by the director general of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, will travel to Dungarpur, Banswara and Udaipur during the three-day field visit. The schedule was set out in an order issued by Rajasthan’s mines and petroleum department.
The committee will visit Paldewal-Sarkan in Dungarpur on October 11 and Kewadiya-Kothara in Banswara on October 12 as indicative field areas. It will then travel to Udaipur on October 13 before departing from Udaipur Airport.
A public consultation will be held at the Tribal Area Development auditorium in Banswara on October 12. Citizens, elected representatives, Panchayati Raj institutions, industry and trade organisations, mineral leaseholders, environmentalists, academics, subject experts, voluntary organisations and other stakeholders have been invited to present their views before the committee.
The Banswara notice said the suggestions and views received during the consultation would be examined by the high-powered committee and considered for inclusion in its recommendations. The process places local administrations, communities, mining interests and environmental groups in the same consultation framework as the panel examines the status and conservation requirements of the Aravalli landscape.
“Stakeholder consultations have also been planned in Dungarpur and Banswara,” an official said, according to the report. The department has directed officers of the mines and geology department to coordinate the visit and remain present with relevant records.
The officials nominated for the exercise include additional director of geology S N Dodiya, superintendent mining engineer S P Sharma, mining engineers Ghanshyam Chouhan, Suresh Chand Agrawal and Asif Mohammad Ansari, senior geologists Devendra Singh and Amit Dabi, and superintendent geologist H S Nathawat.
The committee’s field exercise extends beyond Rajasthan. Its members, special invitees and supporting officers, numbering around 10 to 12, are scheduled to arrive in Ahmedabad on October 7 before beginning field visits in Gujarat and subsequently travelling to Rajasthan.
The committee’s work is focused on questions that affect how the Aravalli Hills and Ranges are identified, protected and administered. In southern Rajasthan, the scheduled visits bring those questions to specific field areas and create a formal opportunity for local institutions, residents, industry representatives and environmental groups to place their views before the panel.
The next publicly identified milestones are the October 11 visit to Paldewal-Sarkan, the October 12 visit and consultation at Banswara, and the committee’s travel to Udaipur on October 13. The department’s nominated officers are expected to support the panel with relevant mines and geology records during the exercise.
