New Delhi: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday took an unprecedented step by directing the preparation of a Management Plan for Sustainable Mining (MPSM) for all districts in the Aravalli range, mandating a uniform definition of the Aravalli hills, and barring states from issuing new mining leases until the plan is finalised.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R. Gavai said, "We, however, direct the MoEF&CC (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change) to prepare a MPSM through Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) for the entire Aravalis extending from Gujarat to Delhi... We further direct that till the MPSM is finalised by the MoEF&CC through ICFRE, no new mining leases should be granted."
The decision by the top court has come amid concerns over large-scale illegal mining in the districts of Rajasthan and Haryana, although the Aravalli range also covers Gujarat and Delhi-NCR.
The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) told the court that varying definitions of the Aravalli hills have led to indiscriminate mining, threatening the sustenance of the ancient fold mountains.
Presently, no uniform definition exists of what constitutes the Aravalli hill or range across the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Gujarat.
The committee proposed that any slope with a height of more than 100 metres, measured from the top, would qualify as Aravalli hills.
"Any landform located in the Aravalli districts, having an elevation of 100 metres or more from the local relief, shall be termed as Aravalli Hills," the committee's report said, adding that for measuring this, the highest slope will be taken as a reference point and the 100 metres will be measured from the highest point on the slope to the lowest contour line on the hill.
"The entire landform lying within the area enclosed by such lowest contour, whether actual or notionally extended, together with the hill, its supporting slopes, and associated landforms, irrespective of their gradient, shall be deemed to constitute part of the Aravalli Hills," the report added.
Further, the committee defined the Aravalli Range as "two or more Aravalli Hills, located within the proximity of 500 metres from each other, measured from the outermost point on the boundary of the lowest contour line on the two hills."
The bench, also comprising justices K. Vinod Chandran and N.V. Anjaria, accepted the definition provided by the expert committee constituted by the Centre.
The court also adopted the Committee's recommendations to prohibit mining in core/inviolate areas and enforce sustainable practices in the Aravalli Hills, curbing illegal mining.
On fresh mining leases, the report said that to ensure "sustainable mining," no new mining lease, except in the case of critical, strategic, and atomic minerals, should be allowed in the designated Aravalli hills and ranges. Besides, core or inviolate areas should also be designated in these ranges to prohibit mining in them, it added.
The court said that the MPSM to be prepared by the Centre will identify permissible areas for mining, ecologically sensitive, conservation-critical, and restoration-priority areas within the Aravali landscape, where mining shall be strictly prohibited or permitted only under exceptional and scientifically justified circumstances.
The plan shall also incorporate a thorough analysis of cumulative environmental impacts and the ecological carrying capacity of the region, which has not been done till date. The court also directed the Centre to frame post-mining restoration and rehabilitation measures for the mined areas.
The court was not in favour of imposing a complete ban on mining in the area and allowed the mining leases already operating to continue strictly as per law. Once the MPSM is prepared, the court directed that mining shall be permitted only in those areas where sustainable mining is allowed.
The judgment held that the Aravali ecosystem acts as a "green barrier," is rich in wildlife, flora, and fauna, and significantly influences the climate and biodiversity across North India, as several wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves, wetlands, and aquifers are situated within this landscape.
Further, the court said that India is party to the United Nations Convention on Combat Desertification, ratified in 1996.
The Centre had informed the court that it has also launched the "Aravali Green Wall Project" to restore degraded land, prevent desertification, enhance green cover, and improve the ecological health of the Aravali landscape.
Senior advocate K. Parmeshwar, assisting the court as amicus curiae, had stressed the need for a scientific assessment based on the availability of minerals in the Aravallis for the next 20 years before permitting any mining.
While Rajasthan and Delhi supported the committee's recommendation, Haryana objected, saying that height alone cannot be the criteria, as the age of the rocks also needs to be factored.
In 2002, the top court banned mining activities in the entire Aravalli region. The FSI report of 2018 testified to brazen illegal mining in the area, pointing to the disappearance of 31 hillocks across more than 3,000 sites in Rajasthan and Haryana. Both CEC and FSI, in their reports to the court, endorsed the view that the definition of Aravali hills should encompass hills along with a uniform 100-metre-wide buffer surrounding the downslide of hills.