Aravalli Hills protection: Supreme Court panel invites public suggestions
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The High-Powered Committee constituted by the Supreme Court to examine issues related to the Aravalli Hills has invited representations, suggestions and inputs from stakeholders, including the states through which the mountain range passes.
According to a government release issued on Tuesday, the committee has sought submissions from environmentalists, conservationists, non-profit organisations, mining leaseholders, project proponents, villagers, farmers, mine workers and local communities connected to the region.
Stakeholders have been asked to submit their representations, supported wherever possible by documentary evidence or verifiable material, through email or an official Google Form within 21 days.
The committee, headed by Kanchan Devi, Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, was constituted by the Supreme Court in June to provide a "fair, impartial, and independent" assessment of issues surrounding the Aravalli range.
It has been tasked with resolving ambiguities in an October 2025 report prepared by a panel led by the Environment Secretary. The committee is scheduled to submit its report to the Supreme Court by August 31.
The panel will examine the proposed definition of the Aravalli Hills based on a 100-metre elevation above the local relief, including adjoining slopes and land. The Supreme Court had stayed its earlier order accepting this definition after concerns were raised that it could leave more than 90 per cent of the hill range outside protection, potentially exposing large areas to mining and construction.
The committee has also been asked to identify the regions covered under the proposed definition and assess whether sustainable or regulated mining in newly demarcated Aravalli areas could have adverse ecological consequences.
The Aravalli range, one of the world's oldest mountain systems, stretches for about 700 km across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi, with around 560 km located in Rajasthan.