The Supreme Court has constituted a five-member committee to arrive at a uniform definition of the ecologically fragile Aravalli range to regulate future mining activities, and submit a report on the conservation of the range by August 31.
The panel will be headed by Director General of Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) Kanchan Devi, according to the May 25 order passed by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant.
The court said that any course of action adopted should be informed, scientifically sound, and consistent with the principles of environmental protection and sustainable development.
The court further asked the committee to be mindful of the “varied and competing considerations” while undertaking its assessment and to involve all stakeholders, including the states of NCT of Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, environmentalists, non-profit organisations, mining lease holders, project proponents, villagers, farmers, and local communities whose livelihoods are intrinsically linked to the Aravalli ecosystem, among others.
“The proposed Committee would be expected to objectively assess the implications of the measures contemplated and assist this Court in determining whether their implementation may give rise to ecological, environmental, or other consequences that may subsequently prove difficult, if not impossible, to reverse,” stated the order which was made public on Tuesday.
{{/usCountry}}“The proposed Committee would be expected to objectively assess the implications of the measures contemplated and assist this Court in determining whether their implementation may give rise to ecological, environmental, or other consequences that may subsequently prove difficult, if not impossible, to reverse,” stated the order which was made public on Tuesday.
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To be sure, the top court has already stayed mining across the entire Aravalli region pending the HPC’s final report and its consideration.
The matter will be next heard on September 7.
The Aravalli range serves as the “green lung” for northwestern India and is an indispensable primary geographical barrier separating the arid northwestern desert from the fertile northern plains. Since 2002, the top court has regulated mining in the Aravalli region. In 2018, an FSI report showed brazen illegal mining in the area, reporting the disappearance of 31 hillocks across 3,000 sites in Rajasthan and Haryana.
In November 2025, the top court laid down a common definition for the Aravalli hills and range as proposed by an eight-member committee headed by the MoEFCC secretary. The committee stated that any landform located in the Aravalli districts with an elevation of 100 metres or more from the local relief shall be termed as Aravalli hills. Similarly, it stated that two or more Aravalli hills located within 500 metres of each other shall form the Aravalli Range.
The order led to widespread criticism and concern that such a definition would encourage illegal mining and harm the ecological integrity of the Aravalli ecosphere. On December 29, the top court took suo motu cognisance of the matter and placed its earlier order on hold. By the same order, the court held that no permission shall be granted for mining, be it the issue of new leases or renewal of older ones.