Law over loot: SC enforces mining ban in Aravallis

THE Supreme Court has delivered a line that should echo across every scarred ridge of the Aravalli Hills: “We say ‘stop mining’ and you stop.” It is a constitutional reminder that environmental rule of law is not optional. For decades, the Aravallis — among the world’s oldest mountain ranges — have been gouged by illegal and quasi-legal mining. Despite repeated bans and regulatory frameworks, extraction has continued through loopholes, weak enforcement and political complicity. The result is visible from space: denuded hills, depleted aquifers and rising dust pollution choking parts of Rajasthan and Haryana, with spillover impacts on the NCR.

Compounding this damage is the entrenched mining mafia that has thrived in regulatory grey zones, brazenly flouting court orders and environmental norms. Operating with impunity and often shielded by local patronage networks, these cartels have turned ecological plunder into a parallel economy, mocking both governance and judicial authority. By maintaining its ban and seeking expert inputs on whether mining can ever be sustainably permitted in the region, the SC has struck a necessary balance between caution and consultation. But the burden of proof must lie firmly on those who seek to mine, not on fragile ecosystems struggling to survive.

The Aravallis function as a natural barrier against desertification from the Thar, recharge groundwater, moderate climate extremes and support biodiversity. To reduce them to revenue blocks is ecological myopia. Successive administrations have failed to implement clear court directives. If expert panels are constituted, they must be independent, transparent and science-driven, not a fig leaf for reopening extraction. The SC’s blunt message underscores a deeper truth: environmental compliance cannot be negotiated district by district. The executive must now decide whether it will listen or once again look the other way while the hills disappear.