The Aravalli Range: A Battle Between Conservation and Development

The fast-depleting groundwater in Punjab and Haryana, along with the eroding topography, ecology, and environment in Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi NCR, are matters of great concern. These issues are not caused by natural processes but by human activities. The Aravalli hills, formed billions of years ago from ancient tectonic plate collisions during the Precambrian/Proterozoic era, have transformed over millions of years. Once a range of very high fold mountains, they are now a series of detached high and low hills, ridges, and rocky outcrops. The hills in the range stand between 300 and 900 meters, with the highest peak, Guru Shikhar on Mount Abu plateau in Rajasthan, reaching an elevation of 1,722 meters (5,650 feet) above sea level. Despite this, there are many hills of lesser height.

The Aravalli range has drawn significant attention from environmental experts, civil society, and the media, particularly after a Supreme Court verdict accepting the 100-meter condition proposed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) committee. This condition states that a hill should be elevated to a height of 100 meters from the level around it or should fall within 500 meters between two qualifying hills in the Aravalli range. This ruling, accepted by the Supreme Court on November 20, 2025, triggered widespread opposition, protests, and criticism.

The government defended the definition, highlighting it as a 'technical' clarification and emphasizing its benefits in uniformly protecting the Aravalli. However, these points are also the focus of criticism. On December 29, 2025, the Supreme Court stayed its order of November 20, 2025, citing public resentment. The technical committee, comprising MOEFCC officials, State Forest Department officials, and Forest Survey of India (FSI) experts, suggested using local-area-level rather than sea-level as the baseline for measuring the 100-meter height for a land rise to qualify as an Aravalli hill. This approach is problematic because the local area in the said region itself is more than 100 meters higher than sea level, a universal standard for measuring hill height.

According to the FSI, only 1,048 (8.7%) of the 12,081 Aravalli hills in Rajasthan would meet the standard of 100 meters height from the local relief. Sea-relief is a universal, standardized reference point, whereas local relief is arbitrary and defined by the immediate surrounding terrain. For instance, Everest's height is measured from sea level, not local level.

Rajasthan has a definition and allows mining accordingly, while Delhi and Haryana lack such a definition and prohibit mining. The committee's addition of 'uniformity' by defining Aravalli in Rajasthan's legal code and extending it to Haryana and other states sharing the Aravalli range creates scope for permitting mining and other activities in Haryana, where it was previously not possible. The declared aim of the definition is to regulate mining, not prevent it. The Aravalli range spreads through Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, and Gujarat, with more isolated lower hills and ridges in Delhi and Haryana. This is the primary area targeted by real estate developers seeking to legalize their operations in Gurgaon and Faridabad districts of Haryana, adjacent to Delhi.

A survey conducted in 2023 identified 6,793 unauthorized structures, including luxury farmhouses, resorts, banquet halls, dwelling units, religious structures, and educational institutions, covering 786 acres of land in this region. According to a 2018 report by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) appointed by the Supreme Court, 31 out of 128 Aravalli hills in the Alwar district of Rajasthan had vanished or critically eroded due to illegal mining and relaxed regulatory enforcement over the past 50 years.

Initially, there were isolated instances of mining and structures for personal or societal use, but in recent years, the region's resources have been exploited for the market. Market-driven mining, deforestation, and real estate development have threatened the Aravalli Hills. What the government views as a 'technical' clarification is actually a 'passage' for miners and real estate developers to intrude into the Aravalli without checks. Once the Aravalli is defined to exclude certain parts, mining and real estate companies will be legally allowed to take over those regions. Once allowed, they cannot be stopped from further encroaching on the Aravalli.

Market-driven forces, guided by profit maximization, do not account for externalities such as human, cultural, environmental, and natural concerns, leading to pollution, resource depletion, and loss of cultural heritage. Corporations, industry groups, and business houses have the power to lobby and fund campaigns to influence legislation, potentially leading to policies that favor their profitability over broader human or environmental concerns. Governments must prioritize human welfare, environmental protection, and ecological balance over market forces. Therefore, before adopting a definition for the Aravalli hills that could damage one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world, the government and the Supreme Court must thoroughly examine all aspects.

The Supreme Court's ruling on December 29, 2025, to stay its own 40-day-old verdict is a positive step. The court respected public voices and ordered the formation of a new committee to re-examine the matter. The new committee must consider whether any definition is necessary if the aim is to protect the Aravalli range in its entirety. Protecting the Aravalli requires safeguarding its foothills, extending at least 500 meters of flatland around it, and reserving it for agriculture and grazing only.