Jaipur, Aug 5 (IANS) A high-level committee constituted under the chairmanship of the Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) to define the Aravalli range in compliance with Supreme Court directions will undertake a field visit to selected districts of Rajasthan from August 7 to 10.

The committee will study the ecological, geological, hydrological, biodiversity, mining-related land use and socio-economic characteristics of the Aravalli region.

The State Government has appointed Mahavir Prasad Meena, Director (Mines), as the State Nodal Officer and B.S. Sodha, Additional Director (Mines), as the Assistant Nodal Officer for the visit. From the Forest Department, T.J. Kavitha, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, has been designated as the Nodal Officer.

According to the itinerary, the committee will visit Kotputli, Neem Ka Thana, and Sariska on August 7; Jaipur and the Kishangarh region of Ajmer district on August 8; Rajsamand and Udaipur on August 9; and hold public interactions and consultations in Udaipur on August 10.

During the visit, the committee will interact with District Collectors, officials of the Mines and Forest Departments and other concerned agencies, mine leaseholders, environmentalists, non-governmental organisations, representatives of mining associations, mine workers, subject experts, local villagers and farmers.

Public consultations are scheduled to be held in Sariska (Alwar) on August 7, Ajmer on August 8 and Udaipur on August 10.

Additional Chief Secretary (Mines) Aparna Arora chaired a virtual review meeting at the Secretariat on Wednesday with senior officers of the Mines and Forest Departments to assess preparations for the committee’s visit.

She said that, besides appointing state-level nodal officers, instructions have been issued to officials in all concerned districts to remain fully prepared, coordinate closely with the committee, extend all necessary assistance and provide any information sought during the visit. District Collectors of the concerned districts have also been directed to remain present during the committee’s field visits and public interactions to ensure effective coordination.

The Additional Chief Secretary further instructed officials to showcase the conservation and restoration initiatives being undertaken by the Mines and Forest Departments, as well as by mine leaseholders, for the protection and sustainable management of the Aravalli range.

The review meeting was attended by Special Secretary (Mines) Namrata Vrishni, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests P.K. Upadhyay, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests T.J. Kavitha, Director (Mines) Mahavir Prasad Meena, Additional Directors B.S. Sodha and Mahesh Mathur, ADG Alok Prakash Jain, OSD Shrikrishna Sharma, Sunil Kumar Verma, Sanjay Saxena and other field officials.

–IANS

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