Amid the widespread corporate-backed assault on India’s jal-jungle-zameen ( water resources, forests, and hills) CPI(ML) units across the country held a day of solidarity on December 28 in support of the environmental movement. The protests highlighted urgent ecological concerns spanning from the Himalayas to Great Nicobar Island and from the Aravallis to the Hasdeo forest.
With the slogan “India’s Environment is Not for Sale”, demonstrations were organised across the country demanding the withdrawal of the narrow and unscientific definition of the Aravalli hills and range recently approved by the Supreme Court. Protesters pointed out that such a mining-focused definition would deal a death blow to the ecologically sensitive Aravalli ecosystem.
Protests were held in Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ranchi, Patna, Arrah, and other parts of the country. Participants resolved to protect the Aravalli, the Himalayas, Great Nicobar, and the Hasdeo forests from the ongoing wave of destruction unleashed by corporate and government policies.
In response to the rising public concern and movement to save the Aravallis, the Supreme Court on December 29 decided to put its own order defining the Aravalli hills and range on hold and proposed the formation of an expert committee to examine the issue.
The official text of the CPI(ML) #SaveEnvironmentSaveIndia Day is as follows:
There is no Plan B when it comes to saving our nature and our jal-jungle-zameen. From the choking air of Delhi to the vanishing forests of Chhattisgarh and the Great Nicobar, and from disasters unfolding in the Himalayas, we are witnessing a relentless policy of destruction pushed by the Modi regime against our future and the future of generations to come.
On one side, the Modi government peddles lie after lie, and on the other, its corporate crony friends, enjoying full impunity under what the government calls “ease of doing business”, continue to destroy the air we breathe, the water we drink, and our forests, hills, and nature. At a time when the world is worried about climate change and its impact on the poor and vulnerable, this government continues shamelessly on a path of ecological devastation.
Aravalis
The Modi government has arbitrarily and deceitfully altered the definition of the Aravallis, one of the oldest mountain ranges on Earth, even older than most life on land, just to open them up for mining. Now they are trying to sell this destruction to the people as ‘Sustainable Mining.’ With this new definition, over ninety percent of the Aravali range is under threat from the mining mafia.
The Aravallis, that spans approximately 670 km, starting near Delhi, passing through southern Haryana and Rajasthan, and ending in Ahmedabad, are the lungs of the regions. Without the Aravallis, Delhi and its surrounding areas could face severe desertification. For centuries, these hills have acted as a natural shield against the dust and winds of the Thar Desert. Their rocky ridges and slopes slow down desert winds, hold the soil, trap dust, regulate moisture, and let rainwater seep into underground aquifers. They are nature’s own water and climate regulators, yet today they are at risk of being lost forever.
The threat is not just over the Aravallis, but part of a ploy of exploitation and ecological destruction sweeping across the country.
The Himalayas
In Uttarakhand, the Modi government divided the massive 900 km Char-Dham road into 53 smaller segments, each under 100 km, to bypass the mandatory, comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) required for large projects. It also allowed reckless and unscientific constructions in the ragile Himalayan region. Today, landslides, floods, and the continuing land subsidence in Joshimath show the deadly consequences. Glaciers are melting faster, rivers are swelling, and local communities are losing lives and livelihoods every year.
Great Nicobar
Similarly, in the Great Nicobar Swap – compensatory afforestation, the government destroyed 130 sq km of pristine tropical forest in Great Nicobar Island for a mega development project and built “compensation” in the Aravallis of Haryana, a place 2,400 km away and in a totally different ecosystem and climatic conditions. This ecological fraud is now being packaged and promoted as the Aravalli Green Wall Project.
Hasdeo Forests
Hasdeo Aranya, one of India’s densest remaining forests in Chhattisgarh, is under attack to serve the interests of Modi’s crony, Adani. Lakhs of trees are being cut, thousands of acres of forest erased, all in blatant violation of laws like PESA, the Forest Conservation Act, and LARR 2013. A large number of adivasis are facing forced evictions and displacements in front of corporate bulldozers.
Destruction Everywhere
Projects like Clean Yamuna and Clean Ganga have already exposed this government’s corruption and insensitivity. After spending thousands of crores of public money, our rivers are more polluted than before.
Today, our natural resources are being handed over to profit hungry corporates who fund the ruling party in the name of donations. The government hides facts, manipulates environmental laws, weakens institutions like the National Green Tribunal, and attacks the livelihoods of tribals and fisherfolk.
This government, on one side, is snatching away our education, employment, health, pensions, social welfare, the right to food, work, and information. It attacks the rights of the people, democracy, the Constitution, and the right to vote.
Now it is coming for our air, our water, our forests, our seas, and our sky. We must all unite to resist this wave of destruction!
We call upon all patriotic citizens and organisations to raise your voice to protect Aravalis, Himalayas, Great Nicobar, and Hasdeo Aranya.
