{"id":78481,"date":"2025-12-18T11:21:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T05:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=78481"},"modified":"2025-12-18T11:21:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T05:51:57","slug":"aravalli-range-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/aravalli-range-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting the Aravalli Range &#8211; Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Aravalli Range Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court has settled a <\/span><b>uniform definition of the Aravalli hills and ranges<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and paused fresh mining leases across Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, while issuing directions for sustainable mining and ecological restoration of the region.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Aravalli Mountain Range: Geographic and Ecological Significance<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Aravalli Mountain Range is one of the oldest mountain systems in the world, estimated to be nearly two billion years old.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stretching over <\/span><b>650 km from Delhi to Gujarat<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the range passes through Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, forming a critical ecological spine in north-western India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ecologically, the Aravalli\u2019s act as a <\/span><b>natural barrier against desertification<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, preventing the eastward expansion of the Thar Desert into the fertile Indo-Gangetic plains.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They play a vital role in climate regulation, groundwater recharge, and biodiversity conservation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several important rivers, such as the <\/span><b>Chambal<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>Sabarmati<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><b>Luni,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> originate from or are supported by the Aravalli system.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The region is rich in minerals like <\/span><b>limestone, marble, sandstone, copper, zinc, and tungsten<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which have historically made it a mining hub.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, excessive quarrying over recent decades has severely degraded forests, reduced groundwater levels, and worsened air quality, especially in the National Capital Region (NCR).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Mining and Environmental Degradation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since the early 1990s, the Environment Ministry has issued regulations restricting mining to sanctioned projects.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite this, widespread illegal and unregulated mining continued, particularly in parts of Haryana and Rajasthan.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2009, the Supreme Court imposed a blanket ban on mining in Faridabad, Gurugram, and Mewat districts of Haryana. However, enforcement challenges persisted.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recognising the long-term ecological risks and India\u2019s commitments under the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the Court revisited the issue in recent years to adopt a more comprehensive and sustainable approach.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Supreme Court Intervention and Uniform Definition<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A major issue in protecting the Aravalli\u2019s was the absence of a uniform definition.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Different States and agencies used inconsistent criteria to identify Aravalli formations, leading to regulatory loopholes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To address this, the <\/span><b>Supreme Court constituted a committee<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> comprising representatives from the Environment Ministry, Forest Survey of India (FSI), Geological Survey of India, State Forest Departments, and the Central Empowered Committee (CEC).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2025, the <\/span><b>Court accepted the committee\u2019s recommendation that hills above 100 metres in height would be considered part of the Aravalli range<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While concerns were raised that this definition might exclude smaller formations, the Court held that it was more inclusive and workable than earlier slope-based or buffer-based definitions, which risked excluding large areas altogether.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Central Empowered Committee Recommendations<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Central Empowered Committee proposed a science-based, multi-layered strategy for protecting the Aravalli\u2019s. Key recommendations included:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Comprehensive scientific mapping of the Aravalli range across all States<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Macro-level environmental impact assessment of mining activities<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strict prohibition of mining in ecologically sensitive zones such as wildlife corridors, aquifer recharge areas, water bodies, and protected habitats<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No new mining leases or renewals until proper mapping and assessments are completed<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tight regulation of stone-crushing units contributing to air pollution<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These recommendations were accepted by the Supreme Court in its November 2025 order.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Sustainable Mining and the Green Wall Initiative<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of imposing a complete ban, the Supreme Court adopted a calibrated approach.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It allowed existing legal mining to continue under strict regulation while pausing fresh approvals. The Court noted that total bans often fuel illegal mining mafias and unregulated extraction.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Complementing judicial action, the Centre launched the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/aravalli-green-wall-project\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Aravalli Green Wall Project<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in June 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The initiative aims to increase green cover in a five-kilometre buffer zone across 29 districts in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The project targets the restoration of 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030, strengthening India\u2019s land degradation neutrality goals.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/how-is-the-aravalli-range-to-be-protected-explained\/article70408703.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/opinion\/editorials\/aravallis-are-precious-need-scs-shield-10392053\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court\u2019s recent directions aim to protect the Aravalli range by regulating mining, defining ecological boundaries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":78487,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[689,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-78481","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-aravalli-range","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}