The Supreme Court says, only those hills whose height will be 100 meters or more above the ground level will be considered as Aravalli ranges.
Clouds of crisis are currently looming over the Aravalli mountain range (Aravalli hills), one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. From Delhi-NCR, Haryana to Rajasthan, along with the development of real estate and infrastructure, mining has created a crisis on it, and a controversy has also arisen regarding the new definition of this mountain range. The government says that a new definition is the need of the hour, while environmental experts warn that if the Aravalli mountain range weakens, it will have a huge impact on life and climate in North India. Let us know what is the real story behind this dispute and what were the Aravali hills in the eyes of the British?
The Aravali Mountain Range extends over an area of about 800 kilometers from Gujarat to Delhi via Haryana and Rajasthan. It extends from Delhi to Haridwar and here it is completely hidden under the earth’s surface. This mountain range is considered to be 150 to 250 crore years old, most of which about 550 kilometers passes through 15 districts of Rajasthan.
Author Pranay Lal’s book is A Deep Natural History of the Indian Continent. In this he has written that the surface of Delhi is not as we think. Rocks are contained beneath it. If you dig under the soil of Delhi, only rocks will emerge.
Importance of Aravali Hills
It is the Aravali hills which prevent the Thar Desert from expanding towards the east. These affect the cycle of monsoon and rainfall and they play an important role in recharging the groundwater. Not only this, these hills protect the plains of North India from dusty storms. Due to this, these hills are also called the Green Wall or natural protection wall of North India.
These hills protect the plains of North India from dust storms. Photo: Getty Images
British rule had given the name of difficult mountain
This mountain range, which is older than the Himalayas, was called a difficult mountain by the British because it was considered unusable for farming. The same status is still found in revenue records. However, all types of valuable stones and zinc, gold, silver, copper, lead, limestone and marble are found in these hills. Due to these minerals, the Aravali mountain range has already had to pay a heavy price in the form of mining.
The Aravalli hills stood as a challenge for the British.
Apart from this, the British considered the Aravalli mountain range as a natural barrier between Delhi and other parts of India. The British believed that control over many areas was difficult due to difficulty in movement due to these hills. Then during the rebellion against the British, the rebels who had knowledge of the local area used to take shelter in these hills. The rebels used to carry out their activities by staying in this mountain range area. That’s why the British called this area a disturbed area. It is another matter that the British used the wood and minerals of the Aravalli hills extensively but considered it a challenge to control it due to the opposition and inaccessibility of the local people.
The British used the wood and minerals of the Aravalli hills extensively. Photo: Getty Images
It is said that when the British shifted their capital from Kolkata (then Calcutta) to New Delhi, they planted trees heavily. However, instead of the plant species found around Aravali, Prosopis Juliflora plants were planted here. Even today these plants are seen overpowering the local plants like Babool, Dhak, Ronj and Phulahi. After the country’s independence from the British, as industrialization and urbanization increased, the Aravalli hills eroded rapidly. In the 1970s, a large part of this mountain range was eroded.
What is the reason for the current controversy?
Environmental experts believe that the Aravali ranges are not just a unit of paper or revenue records, but a geological and ecological structure. It is alleged that the governments of the respective states have limited interpretation of the Aravalli ranges on revenue records and technical standards, due to which many areas are shown outside the range area and construction and mining can be allowed there.
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court had given a decision on an old petition of TN Govardhan on 20 November 2025. In this the new definition of Aravali was approved. According to this new definition, now only those hills will be considered as Aravalli mountain range, whose height will be 100 meters or more from the ground level. Hills, mounds and gaping areas with a height of less than a hundred meters were excluded from the definition of Aravalli ranges. With the implementation of this new definition, about 90 percent of the Aravalli mountain range will be excluded from it and it will not get legal protection.
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