Protestors and political parties unite as Rajasthan rejects Aravalli redefinition

Jaipur: Facing backlash over the new 100-metre Aravalli Hill benchmark, the Central government on Wednesday directed states to enforce a complete ban on any new mining lease in the range. However, the Opposition Congress and protestors were not entirely convinced.

Stretching through Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, and Gujarat, the two-billion-year-old mountain range acts as a critical ecological spine for this region. It forms a natural barrier against desertification, and plays a vital role in climate regulation, groundwater recharge and biodiversity conservation.

Parts of the Aravallis are protected as tiger reserves, national parks, eco-sensitive zones, and wetlands, where mining and developmental activities are banned. However, the region is rich in minerals like limestone, marble, sandstone, copper, zinc, and tungsten, which have turned it into a mining hub.

New benchmark

A committee under the environment secretary recommended a new definition of the Aravalli hills, which the Supreme Court approved on November 20. Under it, any landform at an elevation of 100 metres or above the local relief — the immediate surrounding areas of a hill — will be considered a part of the Aravalli Hills along with its slopes and adjacent land. Significantly, this benchmark would result in a major part of the range not being counted as Aravallis anymore.

Rajasthan, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of the mountain range, is likely to be impacted the most.

For the state, the earlier benchmark — prescribed by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) — was 115 m above sea level with a slope of at least 3 degrees. Under this formula, the Aravallis covered 40,483 sq km in 15 districts of Rajasthan — roughly 33% of these districts’ total area of 1,23,086 sq km. The 100-m definition would now exclude 99.12% (1,17,527 sq km) of the 1,18,575-sq-km Aravalli Hills.

Environmentalist and Magsaysay winner Rajendra Singh’s book Aravalli Par Naya Sankat, while revealing the verified landscape of the range, claims that 1,07,494 sq km of it is up to 20 metres in height, 12,081 sq km is 20-40 m, 5,009 sq km is 40-60 m, 2,656 sq km is 60-80 m, 1,594 sq km is 80-100 m, and only 1,048 sq km has hills above 100 m, which amounts to only 8.7% of the total area.

Govt stand

Facing a barrage of protests, Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav — an MP from Alwar — sought to clarify that only 0.19 % (278 sq km) of the total Aravalli range could be mined.

He said, “The SC has directed that a sustainable mining plan be prepared, as has been done in Saranda, Jharkhand, and permissions will be granted for mining only after that. No permissions will be granted in Delhi, and more than 20 reserve forests and protected areas in the Aravallis will be protected.”

Yadav also said the new definition did not relate to only a hill’s elevation but also considered its entire spread at the base. He said as the Aravalli range had been defined as the extent of 500 m between two or more hills, more than 90% of the Aravallis would be protected.

Interestingly, the ministry’s own data shows that 278 sq km of the total area is already under mining in the Aravallis across Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Haryana.

Protests

Environmental activists are up in arms against the new definition. Protests have broken out in several cities, including Udaipur, Sikar, and Jodhpur.

Bhanwar Meghwanshi, activist and author of Pathik Main Aravalli Ka, said: “The Aravallis are not just mountains for us. They are part of our Sindhu-Aravalli cultural identity. But the government is only seeing the minerals underneath.”

He added: “Look at the Himalayas: You have made roads and tunnels by disrupting the mountains. Now you have landslides and term them as natural calamities.”

The Congress, the main Opposition in the state, has announced a mass agitation called “Aravalli Bachao” across 19 districts, alleging that the new definition was meant to facilitate large-scale mining in the ranges. Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra even hinted at a nexus between officials and the mining mafia under the BJP rule.

Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot questioned the BJP-led Union government’s intention in redefining the new benchmark when the SC, on February 16, 2010, rejected the same definition.

On the occasion of “International Mountain Day” on December 11, civil-society groups in Delhi-NCR, South Haryana, and different Rajasthan districts launched the “Aravalli Virasat Jan Abhiyaan”.

Neelam Ahluwalia, a founder-member of the “People for Aravallis”, said: “It is a people’s campaign to save one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world from being annihilated by senseless definitions and excessive mining.”

The Aravallis are home to at least 200 native and migratory bird species, more than 100 butterfly species, and many reptile and mammal species, including leopards and tigers.

Its tree cover helps preserve humidity in the atmosphere, moderate wind velocity, and helps regulate the rainfall pattern. Its weathered rocks, with their natural cracks, allow water to percolate and recharge the groundwater.

The loss of green cover can negatively impact local rainfall patterns and temperature, leading to increased heat stress throughout the Aravalli belt. The loss of the Aravalli hills and forests to mining would also lead to a rise in ambient dust levels, which would lead to worsened air quality.

For local tribals, the Aravallis are an anchor. Lakshmi Garasiya from Sirohi said, “We are from the Garasiya tribe and our lifestyle is linked to the mountains and their forests. We rely on them for food, fuel, medicinal herbs, and raw materials. For us, these mountains are our Gods.”