SC’s 100 m hills rule may harm Aravali’s biodiversity: Experts

 

 

 

THE Aravali Hills – one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world that spans approximately 700 km in length – has long served as a natural shield for blocking sand and dust from the Thar Desert while also aiding groundwater recharge and sustaining rich biodiversity for multiple States, including the Delhi-NCR region. But, with the Supreme Court recently accepting a new Government definition that only hills taller than 100 meters will count, experts have warned that many parts of the ecologically vital Aravalis may no longer be protected and thus could expose many regions, including Delhi, to harsher weather and drought conditions.

 

“Calling only hills above 100 metres ‘Aravalis’ erases the landscape that keeps North India breathing and feeds our wells. On paper, it’s ‘sustainable mining’ and ‘development’, but on the ground it is dynamite (with) roads and pits cutting through leopard corridors, village commons and Delhi-NCR’s last green shield,” said Harjeet Singh, founding director, Satat Sampada Climate Foundation. “Shrinking the definition means 90 per cent of this 700-km spine can be legally wiped away — a slow deletion of a mountain range and, with it, the water, wildlife and weather it steadies. This isn’t just the loss of biodiversity or a geological wonder, it also severs the region’s critical recharge zone, guaranteeing harsher dust storms, plummeting groundwater and a lethal spike in air pollution for millions,” the climate activist said.

 

“The Supreme Court’s decision exposes not just Delhi but the entire region that covers the Aravali hills to contamination and pollution,” Environmentalist Vimlendu Jha told PTI. “Aravali Hill” will be defined as any landform in designated Aravali districts with an elevation of 100 metres or more above its local relief, and an “Aravali Range” will be a collection of two or more such hills within 500 metres of each other.