After public outrage, the Supreme Court stayed November 20 order on the Aravalli mountain range, saying only hills with a height of 100 metres or more would be considered as part of the range. The 2010 Forest Survey of India report states only 8% of the nearly 12,000 hills in Rajasthan are higher than 100 metres. If such hills are excluded from the Aravalli range, questions arise about their legal and ecological protection, M K Pandit, former head of geology department at the University of Rajasthan, tells TNIE. Excerpts:

How do you see the uproar over the November 20 order in the context of the environmental health of the Aravallis?

The Aravalli range is a protective shield for North India. Its total length is about 692 km, of which nearly 80%—around 550 km—lies in Rajasthan. Of the state’s total hills, only 1,048 are more than 100 metres high, meaning about 8.7% qualify under the new definition. Without the Aravallis, many rivers in North India would not exist. Forests, plant species, minerals, and invaluable ecological assets would be lost.

According to internal FSI data, Rajasthan has 12,081 hilly areas with elevations above 20 metres. The Aravallis prevent desertification, recharge groundwater, and convert rainwater into seasonal rivers. They act as a barrier against dust storms and hot winds from the west. In essence, the Aravallis are the lifeline of Rajasthan, central to its water security, climate regulation, and ecological balance.