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Aravalli Hills — Supreme Court Judgment and recent controversy (UPSC-RAS)

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Controversy -

  • SC constitutes a high-level committee under MoEF&CC[Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change] to evolve a uniform, scientific, enforceable definition of Aravalli Hills and Ranges.
  •  Supreme Court  (Bench led by CJI B.R. Gavai) accepts the committee's "uniform definition" — 100 m minimum elevation above local relief for hills; hills within 500 m of each other counted as a cluster/range. Interim moratorium on new mining; existing mines permitted with safeguards.
  • Environmentalists, civil society, and opposition protest the verdict. Analysis showed only 1,048 of Rajasthan's 12,081 hills would qualify under the 100 m threshold — potentially leaving ~half the Aravalli region open to mining.
  •  Recent judgement -
  • SC takes suo motu cognizance by CJI Surya Kant, Justices J.K. Maheshwari and A.G. Masih — stays the  judgment. Court acknowledges lack of "scientific reasons" justifying acceptance of the restrictive definition.
  • SC orders constitution of a new High-Powered Expert Committee. Issues notice to Union of India and states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat. Complete ban on new and renewed mining leases without SC's prior permission.

Significance of the Aravalli Range -

  1. (Northern Aravalli) (Central Aravalli) (Southern Aravalli) Prevents Desertification: The Aravalli Range acts as a barrier, preventing the expansion of the desert towards eastern Rajasthan.
  2. Biodiversity: The Aravalli Range has high biodiversity due to extensive vegetation found here.
  3. Tribal Conservation: A significant portion of Rajasthan's tribal population resides in the Aravalli Range, making it a shelter house for them. Prominent Tribes: Meena (Jaipur), Bhil (Udaipur), Garasia (Sirohi)
  4. Minerals: Metallic minerals are mostly found in Aravalli because it is formed by Dharwar rocks .
  5. Drainage system and rivers :  Most of the rivers of Rajasthan originate from Aravalli.
  6. Water dividing line : It is called the water divide line because it divides the drainage system of Rajasthan into two parts. Arabian sea drainage system. Bay of Bengal drainage system. Bhorat Plateau (Water divide) Bay of Bengal Drainage system .
  7. Most of the lakes (fresh water) of Rajasthan are found in the Aravalli region (Udaipur) like – Jaisamand, Rajsamand etc.
  8. Tourism: Aravalli attracts tourism because famous religious places (Ajmer-Pushkar) and hill stations (Mount Abu) are located in Aravalli .
  9. Civilization: Aravalli is said to be the birthplace of ancient civilization (Ahar, Gilund, Bairath, Ganeshwar) and new urban civilizations (Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur) .
  10. Planning region: Aravalli mountain range is called the planning region of Rajasthan because many government schemes and budgets are related to Aravalli region. Such as - development of tourism, tribes conservation, urban development, Dam projects, Lake conservation .