The Centre on Sunday rejected reports that the definition of the Aravalli hills had been changed to allow large-scale mining, and cited a Supreme Court-ordered freeze on new mining leases in the region.
It said a Supreme Court-approved framework provides for stronger protection of the mountain system and places a freeze on new mining leases until a comprehensive management plan is finalised.
Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav told reporters in the Sundarban Tiger Reserve that the SC-approved definition will bring more than 90 per cent of the Aravalli region under "protected area."
In an explanation issued amid controversy over the "100-metre" criterion, the government said the definition of Aravalli hills and range has been standardised across states on the directions of the Supreme Court to remove ambiguity and prevent misuse, particularly practices that allowed mining to continue dangerously close to hill bases.
Sources in the Environment Ministry said the Supreme Court, while hearing long-pending cases on illegal mining in the Aravallis, had constituted a committee in May 2024 to recommend a "uniform definition", as different states were following inconsistent criteria while granting mining permissions.
The committee, chaired by the Environment Ministry secretary and comprising representatives from Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, and Delhi along with technical bodies, found that only Rajasthan had a formally established definition, which it has been following since 2006.
That definition treats landforms rising 100 metres or more above local relief as hills and prohibits mining within the lowest bounding contour enclosing such hills, irrespective of the height or slope of landforms inside the contour.
The sources said all four states agreed to adopt this long-standing Rajasthan definition, along with additional safeguards to make it objective and transparent.
These include treating hills located within 500 metres of each other as a single range, mandatory mapping of hills and ranges on Survey of India maps before any mining decision and clear identification of core and inviolate areas where mining is prohibited.
In a backgrounder, the government rejected claims that mining had been permitted in areas below 100 metres and said the restriction applies to entire hill systems and their enclosed landforms and not merely to the hill peak or slope.
It said it is "incorrect to conclude" that all landforms below 100 metres are open for mining. -- PTI