Token consultations won’t save a dying range. Rights groups have asked the Supreme Court to overhaul how hearings are held on the Aravalli hills. Their charge: the current process is a “token tour.”
The SC-appointed panel is reviewing the Centre’s definition of the Aravalis across Delhi, Haryana, and Rajasthan. Public hearings have been held. But activists say locations were announced late, notices were in English only, and mining lobbies dominated.
The Aravalis are not just hills. They are Delhi’s lungs. They recharge groundwater. They block desertification. And they are being mined, built on, and chipped away.
If public participation means 9 districts in 1 day, with no translation and no time for locals, then it’s not participation. It’s box-ticking.
The court asked for this review to fix “ambiguities.” If the process itself is ambiguous and inaccessible, the outcome will be too.
India has good environmental laws. What we lack is implementation with honesty. Hearings should be in villages, in local languages, with maps and time to respond.
The Aravalis can’t speak for themselves. If we don’t let people speak for them, we’ll wake up to a concrete range and a dust bowl capital.
That would be the real token gesture.