{"id":80393,"date":"2025-12-30T12:04:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T06:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=80393"},"modified":"2025-12-30T12:04:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T06:34:43","slug":"aravalli-hills-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/aravalli-hills-protection\/","title":{"rendered":"Aravalli Hills and Environmental Protection &#8211; Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Aravalli Hills 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 paused its earlier judgment accepting a restrictive definition of the Aravalli Hills and has proposed a re-examination through a high-powered expert committee.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>About the Aravalli Mountain Range<\/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 surviving fold mountain systems in the world, with geological origins dating back nearly 1.5 billion years.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stretching over <\/span><b>690 km<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the range runs from <\/span><b>Gujarat through Rajasthan and Haryana to Delhi<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, forming a crucial natural barrier in north-western India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ecologically, the Aravallis play a vital role in:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Preventing the eastward expansion of the Thar Desert<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regulating regional climate and rainfall patterns<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recharging groundwater aquifers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Acting as a green buffer against air pollution, particularly for the Delhi-NCR region<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The hills host <\/span><b>tropical dry deciduous forests<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, support diverse flora and fauna, and sustain rural livelihoods.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite their importance, the Aravallis have faced severe degradation due to mining, urbanisation, and infrastructure expansion, making legal and policy protection critical.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the years, multiple court orders and expert committees have attempted to define and protect the Aravallis, but <\/span><b>ambiguities in their legal definition<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have remained a major challenge.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Legal Background to the Aravalli Definition Issue<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Environmental protection of the Aravallis has largely evolved through judicial interventions rather than a single comprehensive statute. Courts have relied on:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/environment-protection-act-1986\/\" target=\"_blank\">Environment (Protection) Act, 1986<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Forest conservation principles<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Earlier Supreme Court rulings restricting mining activities<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the absence of a scientifically precise and uniform definition of what constitutes the Aravalli range has led to disputes over which areas qualify for environmental protection.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In November 2025, the Supreme Court upheld a government expert panel\u2019s definition that restricted the Aravallis to:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hills with an elevation of <\/span><b>100 metres or more<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hill clusters, slopes, and hillocks located <\/span><b>within 500 metres of each other<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This definition significantly narrowed the geographical scope of the protected area.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>News Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In December 2025, the Supreme Court kept its own November judgment in abeyance, citing serious environmental and regulatory concerns. Key developments include:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court directed that no irreversible administrative or ecological actions should be taken based on the restrictive definition until further review.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fresh or renewed mining leases in the Aravalli region were prohibited without prior approval of the apex court.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Widespread public concern was noted that the 100-metre elevation rule could exclude a large number of ecologically significant hills, particularly in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court observed that if lower hill ranges were excluded, it could create a \u201csignificant regulatory lacuna\u201d, enabling unregulated mining and environmental degradation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bench proposed constituting a <\/span><b>high-powered expert committee<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reassess whether \u201cregulated\u201d or \u201csustainable\u201d mining in newly excluded areas could still harm ecological integrity<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Evaluate the short-term and long-term environmental impacts of the restrictive definition<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Examine whether the 500-metre clustering rule creates a structural paradox, where ecologically contiguous hills remain unprotected due to technical gaps<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Court emphasised that any final definition must be based on exhaustive scientific<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and geological assessment, ensuring holistic protection of the entire mountain system rather than fragmented pockets.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Environmental and Policy Implications<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over-reliance on technical definitions can undermine ecological objectives<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mining regulation must balance economic activity with inter-generational environmental equity<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Judicial oversight remains critical in the absence of comprehensive legislative clarity<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For policymakers, the issue underscores the need for scientifically grounded, ecosystem-based approaches rather than narrow physical thresholds.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/supreme-court-puts-its-november-expert-report-in-abeyance-in-aravalli-hills-case\/article70448773.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/legal-news\/aravallis-definition-row-supreme-court-stays-order-100-metre-rule-10444452\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Aravalli Hills debate highlights concerns over environmental protection, mining regulation, and judicial scrutiny.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":80399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[4494,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-80393","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-aravalli-hills","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\/80393","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=80393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}