As the August 31 deadline for the panel to submit its report approaches, independent experts and conservationists have have written to the Committee expressing concerns, AVJA said.
The Supreme Court -constituted high-powered committee to study the Aravallis has not conducted “adequate” scientific study, public consultation and field trips across the mountain range , Aravalli Virasat Jan Abhiyan (AVJA), a coalition of environmentalists and activists, alleged on Tuesday (August 25, 2026).
The judgment was based on a report submitted by a committee headed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) Secretary. The Bench also proposed the constitution of a new high-powered committee to look into the issue. On December 29, the Supreme Court kept in abeyance its November 20 judgment upholding a government expert panel definition restricting the world’s oldest surviving mountain system, the Aravallis, to hills sporting an elevation of 100 metres or above, and hill clusters, slopes and hillocks located within 500 metres of each other.
This report was submitted by a committee headed by the MoEF&CC Secretary. On May 25, the top court formed a high-powered committee (HPC) with the Director General, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), as its Chairperson, and an officer of the rank of Director in the MoEF&CC to be nominated by the government as the Member Secretary. As per the May 25 Supreme Court order, the HPC has to comprehensively evaluate a report dated October 3, 2025, on the basis of which the November 20 judgment was given by the top court.
