The Aravalli Hills, stretching from Delhi through Haryana and Rajasthan to Gujarat, serve as a critical natural barrier preventing desert sand from reaching the Indo-Gangetic plains and supporting rainfall in the region. However, a new definition of Aravalli could strip protection from 90% of this ancient mountain range, opening it to mining and construction activities.
The controversy centers on defining what qualifies as part of the Aravalli range. For years, the Forest Survey of India considered landmasses with a 3-degree slope as Aravalli, while a 2024 technical committee proposed 30-meter height and 4.57-degree slope criteria. Last year, the Supreme Court directed the central government to establish a uniform definition to end this confusion.
In response, the Environment Ministry formed a panel that recommended a dramatically different criterion: only landforms reaching 100 meters elevation should be classified as Aravalli Hills, disregarding slope altogether. On November 20, the Supreme Court accepted this suggestion without considering its far-reaching environmental implications.
The problem with this definition is stark. According to Forest Survey of India data, only 8.7% of the Aravalli region has elevations of 100 meters or higher. The majority of the range has elevations below 20 meters. This means the new definition would effectively declassify 90% of the Aravalli Hills, removing their protected status.
Environmental experts warn of severe consequences. The Aravalli range has long functioned as a natural bulwark against desertification, preventing dust and sand from Rajasthan’s Thar Desert from spreading eastward. Without this protection, the Forest Survey of India has consistently cautioned that desert sand could reach the fertile Indo-Gangetic plains, threatening agricultural livelihoods and devastating air quality in already polluted cities like Delhi.
For decades, the Aravalli Hills have faced pressure from illegal construction and mining activities. The new definition could legitimize destruction of vast stretches previously considered part of the protected range. Activists and environmental groups fear this move could accelerate ecological degradation in northern India.
With Delhi already grappling with dangerous pollution levels and farmers facing increasing climate challenges, the potential loss of Aravalli’s protective barrier raises urgent questions about balancing development interests with environmental sustainability. The Supreme Court’s acceptance of the 100-meter criterion may have inadvertently opened the door to irreversible ecological damage across one of India’s most critical natural formations.
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