A committee set up by the Ministry of Environment and Forests has suggested new parameters to declare pristine forested areas as 'inviolate' and thus out of bounds for mining or other harmful non-forest activities.

The panel, headed by former environment secretary T Chatterjee, has recommended that national parks and wildlife sanctuaries; areas within a kilometre of protected areas; compact patches of very dense forests; last remnants of forest types located in direct draining catchment of first order perennial streams being utilised as water source or feeder stream for water supply schemes; areas in direct draining catchment of first-order perennial streams feeding hydro-power projects and boundaries of important wetlands "shall be automatically labeled inviolate".