Centre's panel proposes 100-metre slope as new definition for Aravallis

More than a year after the Supreme Court entrusted the Centre with the task of defining the Aravalli hills and ranges to curb illegal mining, a high-level committee headed by the Union environment secretary has submitted its report to the court, proposing that any slope with a height of more than 100 metres, measured from the top, will qualify as Aravalli hills.

- Abraham Thomas

The report — the first such exercise to lay down a uniform definition for the Aravalli hills — further recommends that to ensure sustainable mining in the Aravalli hill and ranges, no new mining lease, except in the case of critical, strategic, and atomic minerals, should be allowed.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai and justice K Vinod Chandran agreed to consider the report on November 11 and take up objections raised by states to its recommendations.