Jaipur, Dec 26 (IANS) Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma strongly criticised former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot over his statements regarding the Aravalli mountain range.

He said that the Congress government did not even spare the stones and sand of the Aravalli region.

The Chief Minister questioned who changed the definition of the Aravalli range during the years 2002-03 and 2009-10, and how many mining leases were issued in the region during that period.

He accused the Congress of spreading falsehoods and made it clear that no tampering with the Aravalli mountain range would be allowed.

Sharma said that Congress leaders do nothing but spread rumours.

Referring to the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), he said that Congress created unnecessary unrest and misinformation at the time, yet the government successfully implemented the law.

He added that leases were also provided to displaced people.

The Chief Minister further alleged that Congress leaders claim the Constitution will be changed and question the State Intelligence Report (SIR).

He asked whether they were supporting infiltrators and asserted that not a single infiltrator would be allowed to stay.

Launching a sharp attack on former Chief Minister Gehlot, Sharma said that he has become a “Twitter master” whose influence has faded.

“His magic will not work anymore. He will have to reap what he has sown,” he said.

On December 24, in a decisive move to curb illegal mining and strengthen ecological protection, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has directed state governments to impose a “complete ban on the grant of any new mining leases in the Aravallis”, covering the entire mountain range from Delhi to Gujarat.

The Ministry said the prohibition will apply uniformly across the entire Aravalli landscape, underscoring that the objective is to “preserve the integrity of the range as a continuous geological ridge” extending from Gujarat to the National Capital Region and to bring an end to all unregulated mining activities.

Further tightening the conservation framework, the MoEF&CC has instructed the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) to identify additional areas and zones across the entire Aravalli range where mining must be prohibited, over and above the areas already restricted by the Centre.

The identification will be carried out based on ecological, geological and landscape-level considerations, the Ministry said.

ICFRE has also been tasked with preparing a comprehensive, science-based Management Plan for Sustainable Mining (MPSM) for the entire Aravalli region.

According to the Ministry, the plan will be placed “in the public domain for wide stakeholder consultation” and will assess cumulative environmental impacts, ecological carrying capacity, conservation-critical and ecologically sensitive areas, while also outlining measures for restoration and rehabilitation.

--IANS

arc/dan