India, June 20 -- New Delhi

With the August 31 deadline for a Supreme Court-appointed high-powered committee to submit a report on the definition of the Aravalli hills looming large, environmentalists and activists have urged the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to constitute a fresh and independent new high-level committee to define the Aravalli hills. In a series of letters from June 16 to June 19, having at least 130 signatories from across the country, environmentalists have alleged that the latest committee constituted on May 25 was weaker than previous such panels and raised concerns of bias over multiple members directly or indirectly reporting to the Union environment ministry.

HT has accessed a copy of the letters sent by the activ...