The controversy over mining activities in the Aravalli Hills has sparked nationwide outrage, leading the Supreme Court to issue fresh and significant directions. The apex court has stayed the implementation of its earlier order, which had classified only landforms measuring 100 metres or more in height as Aravalli Hills, excluding those below this threshold from the hill range category.
Delivered last month, the ruling drew widespread criticism, prompting the court to take suo motu cognisance of the matter. In interim orders, the Supreme Court suspended the earlier directive and ordered the constitution of a new expert committee to re-examine the issue. Notices have been issued to the Central Government and the governments of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Haryana, seeking their responses, while the next hearing has been scheduled for January 21 next year. Meanwhile, the Union Tourism Ministry had proposed the 100-metre height criterion on October 13, a recommendation approved by the Supreme Court on November 20, but the decision faced strong opposition across the country.
Environmental activist Jitendra Gandhi has written to the Chief Justice of India, urging a review of the verdict and warning that defining hills solely by height would damage the environment across north-western India, potentially stripping nearly 90 per cent of the Aravalli range of legal protection. He cautioned that such a move would fuel mining and real estate activity, causing irreversible ecological harm, while environmentalists have also warned that mining in the Aravalli Hills would seriously threaten biodiversity.