Overview
- On December 29, a special bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant kept its November 20 order in abeyance and set parameters for a new expert committee to obtain independent opinions after consulting stakeholders.
- The panel must assess whether defining hills as 100 metres or higher and ranges as clusters within 500 metres unduly narrows protected areas and breaks ecological continuity, including how any gaps might be treated for mining.
- Judges directed the committee to verify claims that only 1,048 of 12,081 Rajasthan hills meet the 100‑metre threshold and to advise whether a comprehensive scientific and geological survey is needed.
- The government says the redefinition aims to standardise regulation and bolster protection, while environmentalists warn it could expose most lower hills to mining as reports of illegal extraction persist.
- Experts cite the range’s role in blocking desert dust, supporting monsoons, recharging groundwater and sustaining biodiversity, studies document decades of green‑cover loss and vanishing hills, and AFP debunked a viral video miscast as Aravalli protests.