Explained: What is the new definition of the Aravalli Hills — and why it has sparked a nationwide debate
The ecological role of the Aravalli Hills is immense. The range acts as a natural barrier against northern desertification, protecting biodiversity and facilitating water recharge. Many environmentalists have expressed concern regarding the verdict delivered by the apex court.
New Delhi: The famous Aravalli Range in northwestern India is one of the country's biodiversity hotspots. It runs for around 670 km from Delhi, through southern Haryana and Rajasthan, and to Ahmedabad. The oldest fold-mountain belt in India, the Aravalli Hills, has immense environmental significance.
Supreme Court verdict creates storm
On November 20, the Supreme Court delivered a verdict which created a raging debate all over India. It gave the hills a new, narrow definition: Only those landforms that rise 100 meters or more above local terrain can now be called "Aravalli."
According to the PIB, the SC considered the recommendations of the Committee that it constituted and its further directions from an August 12 verdict regarding the uniform policy level definition of Aravali Hills and Ranges, specifically in the context of regulating mining.
The ecological importance of Aravalli
The ecological role of the Aravalli Hills is immense. The range acts as a natural barrier against northern desertification, protecting biodiversity and facilitating water recharge. The SC, while delivering the verdict, noted that uncontrolled mining in those ranges could be a "great threat to India's ecology” and directed uniform criteria to safeguard them.
The nationwide protests over verdict
Many environmentalists have expressed concern regarding the verdict delivered by the apex court. It has been warned that this could leave 90 per cent of the range unprotected. It could lead to an increase in mining and real estate taking over, which could result in irreversible ecological damage. It would accelerate desertification and deplete the groundwater reserve. With North India, especially Delhi, reeling under pollution, these could worsen the situation manifold.
The Supreme Court decision, according to experts, will put the region and its variety of habitats, including dry deciduous forests, in danger. The Hills are home to the Sariska Tiger Reserve and wetlands like the Sambhar Lake near Jaipur, which supports tens of thousands of local and migratory birds. Also, there are several sacred lands protected by local communities for their spiritual and cultural significance. All these make the Aravalli Hills a very important ecological place, something that experts and protesters feel should be protected.
The protests to protect Aravalli
There has been an intense debate on social media over the future of the Aravalli Hills, with hashtags like #SaveAravalli and #SaveAravallisSaveAQI trending. The rural communities have launched a vehement fight that includes a one-day symbolic fast with the Tosham Hill in Haryana's Bhiwani, the northernmost limit of this range becoming the hotspot of protests. Now, only time can tell what Aravalli's fate has in store, after protecting India's ecology for all these years.