Source: The post “Aravalli Benchmark could have effects beyond mining’’ has been created, based on “Aravalli Benchmark could have effects beyond mining” published in “Indian Express” on 23rd December 2025.
UPSC Syllabus: GS Paper-3- Environment
Context: The Aravalli Hills are ecologically critical for biodiversity conservation, groundwater recharge and pollution control in north-west India. The newly approved 100-metre local relief benchmark for defining the Aravalli Hills has generated concern as it may substantially reduce the officially recognised extent of the range. Although the government has assured limited impact on mining, the new definition poses wider environmental and governance challenges.
Challenges
- Large-scale exclusion of Aravalli landscapes
- The 100-metre local relief criterion excludes vast areas earlier identified as Aravalli under the Forest Survey of India’s 3-degree slope methodology.
- In Rajasthan, which hosts nearly two-thirds of the Aravalli range, more than 99 per cent of previously mapped Aravalli hills could be excluded.
- Several ecologically and historically significant districts have been dropped from the official Aravalli list.
- Risk of increased mining and construction
- Areas excluded from the Aravalli definition may legally become available for mining and quarrying in the future.
- Even if legal mining remains limited, the scope for illegal mining may increase due to weaker regulatory oversight.
- The new definition may also enable large-scale real estate and infrastructure development, particularly in Delhi-NCR.
- Weakening of ecological safeguards beyond mining
- The Aravallis act as a natural barrier against desertification, dust storms and air pollution in the NCR region.
- Derecognition of low-height hill systems may expose fragile landscapes to land-use change, deforestation and groundwater depletion.
- Environmental damage from non-mining activities such as construction and road building may intensify.
- Methodological and scientific concerns
- Measuring hill height from local relief rather than a standardised baseline can exclude genuine hills if surrounding terrain is elevated.
- The focus on avoiding “inclusion errors” overlooks the far more serious risk of “exclusion errors” in fragile ecosystems.
- Averaging slope data at the district level obscures the presence of hilly terrain within largely plain districts.
- Uncertainty in long-term protection
- Although protected areas like tiger reserves and sanctuaries remain safeguarded under existing laws, past attempts to alter boundaries raise concerns.
- Protection dependent on administrative classifications rather than ecological continuity is vulnerable to policy changes.
Way Forward
- Adopt a precautionary and ecosystem-based definition
- The Aravalli definition should integrate elevation, slope, geology and ecological functions rather than rely on a single height benchmark.
- Scientific mapping by independent institutions such as the Forest Survey of India should be given primacy.
- Ensure protection beyond mining restrictions
- Regulatory safeguards must explicitly cover construction, real estate development and infrastructure projects in Aravalli landscapes.
- Environmental Impact Assessments should be made mandatory for all major activities in Aravalli-adjacent areas.
- Strengthen monitoring and enforcement
- Illegal mining and encroachments should be addressed through satellite monitoring, real-time reporting and strict penalties.
- State governments must be held accountable for enforcement failures through judicial and institutional oversight.
- Provide statutory and long-term protection
- The Aravallis should be protected through a comprehensive legal framework or a dedicated conservation notification.
- Eco-sensitive zoning should be expanded to include buffer areas beyond formally notified hills.
- Balance development with ecological security
- Urban and infrastructure planning in NCR and western India must recognise the Aravallis as critical natural infrastructure.
- Sustainable development models, rather than deregulation, should guide land-use decisions in the region.
Conclusion
The new Aravalli benchmark presents serious environmental challenges that extend well beyond mining. Without corrective safeguards, it risks weakening protection for one of India’s most fragile and valuable ecological systems. A science-based, precautionary and legally robust approach is essential to ensure that development does not come at the cost of irreversible ecological damage.
Question: The new 100-metre benchmark for defining the Aravalli Hills may harm the ecosystem. What are the challenges it creates, and how can the Aravallis be protected?
