Govt drafts new policy banning construction activities in hills

JAIPUR: After the Rajasthan high court banned rampant construction in the Aravallis, the state government has prepared a new Hill policy which proposes stricter monitoring and a ban on construction activity on some hills.

- Urvashi Dev Rawal

The government has brought out the draft Hill policy after directions from the Rajasthan high court in August 2023.

The high court had banned construction of resorts, hotels, motels and residential properties on hills in and around Udaipur for ravaging the Aravalli range. The court asked the government to revise the earlier 2018 hill policy, taking into consideration the environmental concerns.

The new policy (of which HT has a copy) proposes to ban all construction activity on any hill with a slope of more than 15 degrees. The new policy will cover all hills in urban areas of the state. The policy also proposes to protect water bodies by banning construction in the protected zone.

"This is a welcome development even though it comes on the directions of the court," said Anil Mehta, joint secretary of the Jheel Rakshan Samiti, an Udaipur-based NGO which has been fighting for the last 10 years to prevent construction in the Aravallis, the world's oldest mountain range that spans from Delhi to Gujarat.