Author's Summary
Supreme Court's acceptance of a 100m elevation definition for Aravali hills in a mining context alarms environmentalists, as it could exclude vast low-lying areas from protection, enabling real estate and quarrying that threaten ecosystems in NCR regions like Gurgaon and Faridabad. (168 characters)
Supreme Court Decision
The Supreme Court has endorsed the Union environment ministry's definition of Aravali hills as those rising to 100 meters or more elevation, originally proposed for mining regulations.
This ruling, though mining-specific, raises fears among watchers that states might extend it to urban planning and zoning.
Environmentalists' Concerns
Retired forest conservator R P Balwan warns this could spell disaster, allowing real estate in Gurgaon and Faridabad while sidelining conservation.
95% of the Aravallis in Gurgaon and 90% in Faridabad would not fit the new definition and the exclusion of lower hills would mean vast stretches of scrub hills, grasslands and ridge areas are out of the ecological protection ambit.
Experts note Haryana's similar criteria—rocks over a billion years old and 100m height—ignores ecological wholeness.
Broader Impacts
A 100m threshold might erase much of the NCR range, as Delhi lacks any such elevations, per critics like Sinha.
Isolated hillocks can't function as a range. This is one of the oldest and most weathered mountain ranges on the planet, and its slopes, plateaus, and rock formations all work together as a single ecosystem.
Prof CR Babu and Prof Laxmi Kant Sharma highlight risks to ridges, wildlife corridors, and groundwater zones, potentially speeding desertification.
Regional Plan Context
The pending NCR Regional Plan 2041 draft hinges on Aravali recognition for natural conservation zones (NCZ).
Rajasthan's past use of this standard led to 31 hills vanishing over 50 years from illegal mining, worsening air quality.
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