Key Highlights
- It was only after the Supreme Court warned of initiating contempt proceedings against senior officials of the Environment Ministry that a new sub-committee was formed in August 2025, which then gave up trying to define the Aravallis and focussed instead on evolving a definition that would “balance” ecological consideration and the Centre’s 2019 National Mineral Policy that encourages mining of critical minerals for the “nation’s economic growth”, according to a 2,000-page affidavit by the Union Environment Ministry, submitted to the Supreme Court, which was perused by The Hindu.
- The definition of the Aravalli range has sparked an environmental and political firestorm over the last week, with charges that the government’s final definition only protects hills higher than 100 metres from mining.
- That leaves the remaining hills — which make up the vast majority of the 700 km range spanning from Haryana to Gujarat, with the bulk of it in Rajasthan — open to the dangers of mining and degradation.
- Editorial | Debate on what is Aravalli reveals distrust of govt on ecological issues Under fire from environmental activists and fighting a social media storm which alleged that vast tracts of the Aravalli ranges may be opened for mining, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav has stressed that no new mining licenses would be awarded until a detailed Management Plan for Sustainable Mining (MPSM) covering the entire Aravalli range is prepared by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, in line with the Supreme Court’s order on November 20, 2025.
- According to this directive, the plan must demarcate areas where mining must be absolutely prohibited, and identify zones where limited and highly regulated mining may be permitted.
