In News:

The Supreme Court of India has accepted the recommendations of a Union Environment Ministry appointed committee on a uniform definition of the Aravalli Hills and Ranges, with the stated objective of restricting mining, prohibiting activity in core/inviolate areas, and enabling sustainable mining practices. The decision follows long-standing concerns over rampant legal and illegal mining in the Aravalli region.

Background

• The Aravalli Hills have faced decades of degradation due to mining and construction.
• In May 2024, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to evolve a uniform definition of the Aravallis, as the absence of clarity hindered effective regulation.
• Historically, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) used a 3-degree slope criterion (since 2010) to delineate Aravalli hills.
• A technical sub-committee (2024) later proposed identifying Aravalli hills as landforms with a minimum slope of 4.57 degrees (8%) and height of at least 30 m, which would have covered around 40% of the range.

New Definition Accepted by the Supreme Court

• Any landform with an elevation of 100 metres or more above local relief, along with its slopes and adjacent areas, will be considered part of the Aravalli Hills.
• As per internal FSI assessments:
  • Only 1,048 hills (≈8.7%) out of over 12,000 hill features in Rajasthan meet the 100 m height criterion.
  • Consequently, over 90% of the Aravalli landscape would fall outside the new definition.

Ecological Significance of the Aravalli Range

• The Aravalli Range stretches for about 692 km, from Gujarat to Delhi, via Rajasthan and Haryana; Rajasthan accounts for nearly two-thirds of its extent.
• It is the oldest mountain range in India and plays a vital role in:
  • Acting as a barrier against desertification from the Thar Desert
  • Regulating regional climate and air quality, especially in Delhi–NCR
  • Serving as a watershed for rivers like Luni, Banas and Sabarmati
  • Supporting biodiversity and wildlife corridors (e.g., Sariska–Ranthambhore)

Key Concerns with the New Definition

• Environmental impact: FSI cautioned that even low hills (10–30 m) function as crucial wind and dust barriers; their exclusion could worsen sand and dust transport toward the Indo-Gangetic plains and NCR.
• Methodological issues:
  • Use of district-average slope and elevation masks the presence of local hill features.
  • Comparing height above mean sea level with height above local relief leads to potential misclassification.
• Area exclusion: Several districts with known Aravalli features (e.g., Chittorgarh, Sawai Madhopur) were left out of the ministry’s Aravalli district list.

Way Forward

• While accepting the 100-m height definition, the Supreme Court has directed the Environment Ministry to prepare a Management Plan for Sustainable Mining, with technical support from the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE).
• The plan aims to:
  • Prevent illegal mining
  • Regulate permitted mining sustainably
  • Protect core/inviolate zones of the Aravalli ecosystem