Aravalli Row Explained: Why the Court-Backed Redefinition Is Facing Backlash

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav has said the latest Supreme Court-backed definition of the Aravalli hills will not relax mining rules, seeking to calm criticism from activists and residents who fear that the change could open the ecologically sensitive range to more extraction.

Yadav told reporters that the Centre remains committed to tough controls across the entire Aravalli belt in Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat, covering 39 districts, and argued that the criteria now cleared by the Supreme Court had already guided decisions in Rajasthan since 2006, though protections have since been tightened.

Aravalli hills mining rules and minister's detailed assurance

Speaking about the limits on activity in the Aravalli hills, Yadav said, "The total Aravalli range is 1.47 lakh square km and only 2 per cent can be mined and that too only after certain studies. The Supreme Court has directed that a sustainable mining plan should be prepared and permissions will be granted (for mining) only after that. No permissions will be granted in Delhi, and more than 20 reserve forests and protected areas in Aravallis will all be protected."

The Union Environment Ministry later issued a detailed note on the Aravalli hills decision, stressing that no new mining leases can be cleared before a comprehensive study is completed in line with a 20 November Supreme Court order, and stating that existing ecological safeguards across notified forests will remain in force.

New Aravalli hills definition and concerns from activists

The Supreme Court recently approved a uniform definition of the Aravalli hills, prepared by a Centre-led expert group, to stop different states from applying their own interpretations of what qualifies as Aravalli land, but environmental groups argue that some vulnerable stretches may now fall outside official protection.

Under the updated description, any landform at least 100 metres above the local relief is treated as part of the Aravalli hills, a threshold that campaigners say excludes more than 90 per cent of the range and could expose many slopes and hillocks to mining, construction and real estate projects with serious environmental costs.

Internal assessments by the Forest Survey of India cited in the Aravalli hills discussions show that only about 8.7 per cent, or 1,048 out of 12,081 identified Aravalli features, rise 20 metres or more, leaving a large number of smaller formations outside the new criteria and potentially beyond future conservation measures.

Aravalli hills expert panel, protests and interim mining ban

The definition of the Aravalli hills was presented to the Supreme Court by a panel chaired by Union Environment Secretary Tanmay Kumar, which included specialists from the Geological Survey of India, Survey of India, Forest Survey of India, the Supreme Court's Central Empowered Committee and senior forest officials from all Aravalli states.

The Aravalli hills decision has sparked strong protests, particularly in Rajasthan, which contains nearly two-thirds of the range, even though the Supreme Court also adopted the panel's advice for an interim halt on new mining leases, except for critical and atomic minerals needed for strategic purposes, along with a ban on mining in core and inviolate zones and a direction to the Environment Ministry to draft a sustainable mining management plan for the entire Aravalli system before any fresh leases are allowed.