📍 Background: The Aravalli Range
The Aravalli Range is one of the oldest fold mountain systems in the world, stretching roughly 800 km from Gujarat → Rajasthan → Haryana → Delhi NCR. It plays a critical ecological role by:
Acting as a climate barrier that checks the eastward expansion of the Thar Desert
Supporting groundwater recharge in semi-arid regions
Preserving biodiversity, forests, and wildlife corridors
⚖️ Supreme Court’s Intervention
The Supreme Court of India has, over several years, passed multiple orders restricting mining, stone quarrying, and deforestation in the Aravalli region due to severe environmental degradation.
However, weak enforcement and regulatory ambiguity allowed continued ecological damage, prompting renewed judicial and executive action.
🏛️ Recent Directive by the Union Environment Ministry
The Union Environment Ministry has directed the Chief Secretaries of Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat to strictly enforce the Supreme Court’s orders, specifically:
❌ No new mining leases in the Aravalli region until a comprehensive management plan is finalized
✅ Existing mines may continue only if they strictly comply with environmental norms
This move follows concerns raised by environmental activists that large parts of the Aravallis could otherwise be reopened for mining.
🧠 Role of ICFRE
The Ministry has assigned the task of preparing a Management Plan for Sustainable Mining to the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE).
The plan will:
Identify permissible mining areas
Demarcate ecologically sensitive, conservation-critical, and restoration-priority zones
Allow mining in sensitive areas only under exceptional circumstances
Expand the coverage of areas protected or prohibited from mining
📌 No specific deadline has been fixed, which raises concerns about implementation delays.
📐 The Core Problem: Defining the Aravalli Range
A long-standing issue has been the absence of a uniform legal definition of the Aravalli range across States and UTs.
🔹 A committee of experts (including the Environment Ministry) recommended adopting a uniform criterion of “100 metres above local relief” to regulate mining.
🔹 This standard has already been in force in Rajasthan since January 9, 2006, but other States had not adopted it consistently.
➡️ Lack of uniformity enabled regulatory loopholes, illegal mining, and forest diversion.
🌱 Environmental Issues in the Aravalli Region
Unregulated mining and quarrying have caused:
Deforestation and loss of green cover
Groundwater depletion in Haryana and Rajasthan
Air pollution and dust storms affecting NCR cities
Loss of wildlife habitat and biodiversity
Increased desertification risk