India, March 15 -- The Centre has backed the Central Empowered Committee's (CEC's) proposed 10-member high-powered expert committee to come up with a uniform definition for the Aravalli mountain range.

In an affidavit filed with the Supreme Court earlier this week, the ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) fully endorsed the names suggested for the high-powered expert committee (HPEC). Kanchan Devi, the current director general of the Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education (ICFRE) is proposed to chair the committee.

The CEC recommended nine members, comprising in-service and retired bureaucrats associated with the Forest Survey of India (FSI), Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Survey of India, along wi...