Forest Survey had red-flagged but Govt took green shield off 90% Aravalli Hills (Forest Survey of India underlined importance of lower hills as barriers to sand, dust flowing east; Secretary says SC appreciated panel's recommendations), Pg1

Key Highlights:

• The Supreme Court accepted a panel's recommendation defining Aravalli Hills as landforms 100m or more above local relief on November 20.
• An internal assessment by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) indicates that only 8.7% of Aravalli Hills in Rajasthan meet the 100m height criteria.
• The Environment Ministry's definition potentially opens over 90% of the Aravalli Hills to mining and construction.
• The FSI had cautioned that a 100m cut-off would protect only a few guard posts, surrendering the fence below.

Detailed Insights:

• The Aravalli range, extending from Delhi to Gujarat, has faced severe pressure from legal and illegal mining for decades.
• In 2024, a technical committee proposed identifying Aravalli Hills as landforms with at least a 4.57-degree slope and a height of at least 30m, covering up to 40% of the Aravallis.
• The Environment Ministry justified the 100m cut-off by arguing that the average ground elevation of Aravalli districts was not below 100m, measured in terms of height above mean sea level.
• The ministry's list of 34 Aravalli districts omitted districts with an established presence of Aravallis, such as Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh and Sawai Madhopur.
• The Supreme Court has asked the ministry to develop a Management Plan for Sustainable Mining with the help of ICFRE under the new definition.
• The FSI had proposed in 2010 that all areas above the minimum elevation of an Aravalli district with a slope of at least 3 degrees be delineated as hills.
• The loss of lower hills is likely to expose vast areas to sand and dust particles blowing from the Thar desert to the Indo-Gangetic plains.

Challenges in Aravalli Range Conservation.png

Key Concepts Involved:

• Aravalli Hills: A mountain range in Northwestern India, running approximately 692 km (430 mi) in a southwest direction, starting near Delhi, passing through Haryana, Rajasthan, and ending in Gujarat.
• Forest Survey of India (FSI): A national organization under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change responsible for assessing the forest resources of the country.
• Sustainable Mining: Mining practices that minimize environmental impact and ensure long-term ecological and social well-being.