Why is it in News?
→ Supreme Court stayed its earlier restrictive definition of Aravalli hills.
→ Environmental protection implications were reassessed.
Important Points:
- SC stayed November 2025 judgment defining Aravallis using 100-metre elevation criteria.
- Only 1,048 of 12,081 hills in Rajasthan qualified under the earlier definition.
- SC took suo motu cognisance of environmental risks.
- Proposal made to constitute a high-powered expert committee.
- Aravalli Range dates back to the Proterozoic era.
- Range extends 690–800 km across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi.
- Acts as a barrier against Thar Desert expansion.
- Forms watershed divide between Indus and Ganga river systems.