Redrawing lines

Why a technical redefinition could undo decades of protection for the Aravallis

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HE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT'S assurance that it will not relax mining rules for the Aravallis offers little comfort to those alarmed ☐ north-west India. In November, the Supreme Court accepted recby a newly adopted definition of this fragile ecological lifeline of ommendations of an environment ministry panel-ostensibly aimed at curbing mining-that defined Aravalli hills as landforms rising 100 metres or more above local relief. The problem is that, according to an internal assessment by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), barely 8.7% of the range meets this threshold. The apex court had sought a uniform definition of the Aravallis last year to address regulatory ambiguity. Until now, the FSI has followed a slope-based criterion-any landform with a gradient of three degrees or more—since 2010. A technical committee constituted last year proposed a more nuanced benchmark: a minimum slope of 4.57 degrees and a height of at least 30 metres. That definition would have protected nearly 40% of the hills. By contrast, the newly accepted cut-off has triggered legitimate fears that over 90%