Aravalli Hills at Risk from New Definition

“According to an assessment by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), only 1048 of 12,081 mapped hills in 15 districts of Rajasthan, where 80% of the Aravalli range is situated—just 8.7% of the hills—meet the 100-meter height criteria. This means more than 90% of what was considered as Aravallis earlier, including vast stretches of the ecologically critical low-lying scrub hills, grasslands, and ridges, will now be excluded from protection and opened up for mining. In Haryana and Gujarat, the hills are even smaller and will not meet the 100-meter benchmark.”

“As a broad coalition consisting of environmentalists, ecologists, community leaders, civil society groups, social activists, researchers, lawyers, and rural and urban people living in the lap of the 4 Aravalli states, we launch the 'Aravalli Virasat Jan Abhiyaan' to save one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world from being annihilated by senseless definitions and excessive mining.”

“Due to excessive groundwater extraction, the water crisis in Rajasthan and Haryana has already reached a critical state. The Aravallis act as a critical water recharge zone for northwest India and must be saved at all costs to ensure water security in this region.”

“The Aravalli Virasat Jan Abhiyaan demands that the Supreme Court recall its 20th November 2025 judgment accepting the new uniform definition of Aravalli hills and ranges. We also demand that the government scrap the regressive uniform definition of the Aravallis given by a committee spearheaded by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change and declare the Aravalli as a 'Critical Ecological Zone.'”