LAST MONTH, the Supreme Court in In Re: Issues relating to definition of Aravali Hills and Ranges (2025) accepted a definition recommended by a committee spearheaded by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (‘MoEFCC’). The Court held that only landforms rising at least 100 metres above the local relief would qualify as Aravalli Hills, and that clusters of such hills located within 500 metres of each other would form an Aravalli Range. The Forest Survey of India has reported that of 12,081 hills mapped across multiple states, only 1,048 (8.7 percent) meet the 100 metres criterion. This has alarmed several experts.
The Aravallis, stretching across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi, are a living ecological infrastructure and the oldest hill range in the Indian subcontinent. The range, estimated to be around 670 million years old, acts as a natural barrier slowing the spread of the Thar Desert, stabilising micro-climates, and recharging aquifers.
