Overview
- On November 20, the Supreme Court accepted a uniform definition that classifies an Aravalli hill as a landform rising at least 100 metres above local relief and paused new mining leases pending expert reports.
- Congress MP Ajay Maken raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha, urging withdrawal of the criterion and warning that North India could turn into a dust bowl.
- Maken cited internal Forest Survey of India figures indicating Rajasthan has 107,498 Aravalli hills but only 1,048 exceed 100 metres, implying roughly 99% could lose legal recognition.
- Hydrological research cited in the debate notes about 2 million litres of groundwater recharge per hectare annually from Aravalli formations, with districts such as Gurugram and Faridabad relying on these aquifers.
- Experts and past findings highlight long-running mining damage across the range, including a 2018 report that recorded the disappearance of 31 of 128 hills in Alwar, underscoring concerns that smaller ridges could face renewed extraction and habitat loss.