Cannot Delineate Aravallis Based on A Single, Terrain-Based Yardstick, Says SC-Appointed Committee

New Delhi: The Aravalli hill range is a complex, interconnected system and cannot be delineated using a single, terrainbased yardstick alone, the Supreme Court-appointed High Power Committee has said in its compliance report dated August 31. 

As this calls for additional work, including more scientific analyses as well as expert and stakeholder consultations, the committee (which is examining issues concerning the definition, delineation, conservation and management of the Aravalli Hills and Ranges) has requested the court for an extension of six months to submit its final report. 

A complex, interconnected ecosystem

The committee’s compliance report submitted to the court on August 31, which was accessed by The Wire, said that consultations with stakeholders – including a ‘Rapid Field Assessment’ that the committee undertook from August 6-11 – showed that the Aravallis mostly constitutes, “a connected landscape with interlinked ecological, hydrological, biodiversity and socio-cultural values”. It therefore cannot be defined using a single terrain-based yardstick:

“The work undertaken so far have evidenced the breadth, scientific complexity and wider implications of the issues requiring examination. It has also highlighted that the questions before the committee cannot appropriately be addressed through a single terrain-based criterion or a single source of evidence. The committee is therefore bringing together complementary streams of spatial, ecological, geological, hydrological, socio-economic and stakeholder evidence before arriving at its considered conclusions.”

The work undertaken so far has also proved that a “scientifically robust assessment” to delineate the Aravallis requires considering numerous aspects from terrain datasets to the resolution of Digital Elevation Models (a dataset used for geospatial analyses) and more, the committee’s report said. 

The scientific inputs received by the committee present complementary perspectives on aspects including ecosystem health and sensitivity, land-use change, hydrological systems, biodiversity, mining-induced vulnerability and landscape connectivity – all of which “warrant further detailed examination by the committee”, the report added.

An “Aravallis Ecosystem Landscape” approach 

The committee has therefore proposed an “Ecosystem-Based Framework” that takes into account the forests in the Aravallis, its biodiversity, ecological connectivity, the ecosystem services it provides to downstream areas, and the local communities and human settlements it supports. This “Aravalli Ecosystem Landscape” framework will take into account not only the hills that comprise the Aravallis but also important ecological, hydrological, cultural and socio-economic landscape elements. These include recorded forests, protected areas, sacred sites, Orans and traditional pastures, wetlands, critical catchments, groundwater recharge areas, areas of archaeological significance and more, the report said.

The committee has already undertaken a comparison of the two proposed methodologies so far: one based on a terrain-linked altitude cut off as recommended in October 2025 by a previous committee for a uniform definition of the Aravallis, versus an approach developed by the Forest Survey of India in 2010.

Per the report, the feasibility of the methodology to assess the implications of terrain/elevation-based delineation has been demonstrated in three districts (Alwar, Ajmer and Udaipur) already. This will now be extended for the entire Aravalli landscape using specific geospatial tools. The committee has also said that their results will require further validation by institutions such as the National Remote Sensing Centre and the Indian Space Research Organisation. 

Need more time

The committee’s compliance report also identified several actions that need to be undertaken over the months to come, as part of the detailed analysis of the Aravalli hill range. These include, among other things, additional scientific and geospatial assessments, expert consultations along with follow-ups, more field assessments, and review of scientific literature. 

As of August 26, the HPC had received nearly 680 electronic and physical representations from farmers, pastoralists, local communities, residents, civil society organisations, statutory bodies, and mining-sector stakeholders, but more stakeholder consultations are needed, according to the committee.  

Put together, these will help the committee develop an integrated assessment of the Aravalli landscape, it said. 

“The Committee considers it particularly important that quantitative outputs with potentially significant regulatory and socio-economic implications should be reported only after the underlying methodology, datasets and analytical parameters have been sufficiently tested and the results have undergone appropriate technical validation and cross-comparison,” the report noted. 

Given the additional work, the committee has asked the court for an extension till February 28, 2026.

According to sources The Wire spoke to, the Supreme Court is likely to give its decision on an extension on Monday (September 7), when it takes up the matter. 

The Supreme Court had appointed the current five-member High Power Committee on June 3 following widespread protests across the Aravallis in December 2025 against the new definition for the hill range that was accepted by a previous committee and recommended by the Union environment ministry. Locals and conservationists feared that it would open up a large part of the hill range to extractive activities including mining. 

However, several environment and conservation groups, scientists and former Indian Forest Service officers had urged the CJI to reconstitute this committee as it comprised current and former government officials. An independent and impartial assessment would be impossible in such a case, they had said.

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