Supreme Court panel invites responses from stakeholders on Aravalli Hills and Ranges

The Supreme Court-constituted High-Powered Committee (HPC) to examine matters related to the Aravalli Hills and Ranges has invited representations, suggestions and inputs from a wide range of stakeholders, including conservationists, farmers, villagers, mine workers and local communities, from the States of NCT of Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat or any other such state whose livelihoods is intrinsically linked to the ecosystem and biodiversity of the region.

The committee is supposed to submit the comprehensive report to the apex court before August 31. The committee was constituted after the Supreme Court on December 29 stayed the implementation of an October 2025 report prepared by another committee chaired by the Secretary of the Environment Ministry.

The high-powered committee — headed by Kanchan Devi, Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) — would conduct an independent review of the Centre’s report on the definition and delineation of the Aravalli hill range. The panel will address what it described as “critical ambiguities” in the findings.

Under the 100-metre definition, proposed by a committee under the Environment Secretary and approved by the Supreme Court on November 20, any landform that is at an elevation of 100 metres will be considered a part of Aravalli Hills.

As per Central Empowered Committee (CEC) report, Rajasthan has logged several instances of illegal mining.