The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognisance of concerns arising from a change in the definition of the Aravalli Hills, following apprehensions that the move could lead to unregulated mining and severe environmental degradation, Live Law reported.
A vacation bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justices JK Maheshwari and AG Masih will hear the matter on Monday.
The 700-km Aravalli mountain range stretches diagonally from southwest Gujarat, through Rajasthan to Delhi and Haryana. Its highest point is Guru Shikhar in Mount Abu, which rises to an elevation of 1,722 metres.
Under the government’s new definition that has been accepted by the Supreme Court, an Aravalli hill is any landform that rises at least 100 metres above the surrounding terrain. An Aravalli range is formed by two or more such hills located within 500 metres of each other, including the land between them.
However, environmentalists have warned that defining the Aravallis solely by their height could leave many lower, scrub-covered but ecologically important hills vulnerable to mining and construction. Experts say these smaller hills are crucial for preventing desertification, recharging groundwater and supporting local livelihoods.
On Wednesday, amid the criticism, the Union environment ministry directed states not to grant new mining leases in the Aravalli Hills. The ban on new mining leases is to preserve the integrity of the landscape and applies to the entire Aravalli range, the ministry had said.
The Congress described the government’s directives to state governments on Wednesday as a “bogus attempt at damage control that will not fool anybody”. The “dangerous 100m+ redefinition” had remained unchanged, party leader Jairam Ramesh said on social media.
On Monday, the Union government denied that the redefinition weakens environmental safeguards, stating that over 90% of the Aravalli region remains protected.
On Wednesday, the Congress asked the Union government why it was “pushing through a fatally flawed” redefinition of the Aravallis, despite opposition from key expert bodies and advisers to the Supreme Court.
Ramesh shared on social media a report by The Indian Express saying that the Supreme Court’s acceptance of the government’s new definition of the Aravalli hills contradicts the recommendations of its own Central Empowered Committee.
Also read: The slow destruction of Delhi’s forgotten spine
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