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3 Jun 2026Environment & Ecology3 questions

Supreme Court Forms High-Powered Expert Panel to Re-examine Aravalli Definition

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Article summary

The Supreme Court of India has constituted a high-powered expert committee to re-examine the ecological and geographical definition of the Aravalli hills, specifically to determine whether hills exceeding 100 metres in height form a continuous ecological zone even when separated by gaps of more than 500 metres. The committee will also assess whether mining activities should be permitted in such intervening spaces. The Aravalli range, stretching across Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, and Gujarat, is one of the world's oldest mountain ranges and serves as a critical ecological barrier against desertification from the Thar Desert. The definitional ambiguity has long been exploited by mining interests and real estate developers to claim that certain tracts fall outside protected Aravalli territory. The Supreme Court's intervention underscores the judiciary's active role in environmental governance and the need for scientifically grounded policy frameworks to protect fragile ecosystems from commercial exploitation.

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Sample questions — answers revealed after test

Environment & EcologyRecallEasy

Q1. With reference to the Aravalli mountain range, which of the following statements is most accurate?

AThe Aravalli range runs approximately 800 km from Gujarat through Rajasthan, Haryana, and into Delhi, acting as a watershed between the Indus and Gangetic river systems.
BThe Aravalli range runs approximately 1,100 km from Gujarat through Rajasthan, Haryana, and into Punjab, acting as a watershed between the Indus and Gangetic river systems.
CThe Aravalli range is a young fold mountain system that post-dates the formation of the Himalayas, making it one of the newer mountain ranges in the Indian subcontinent.
DThe Aravalli range primarily functions as a watershed between the Brahmaputra and Gangetic river systems and is classified as a biodiversity hotspot under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
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Environment & EcologyApplicationMedium

Q2. A mining company applies for a lease to extract limestone from a tract of land located in a 500-metre gap between two Aravalli hill segments in Rajasthan. The state revenue department certifies the land as 'non-forest, non-hill' based on topographic surveys. In the context of the Supreme Court's approach to Aravalli protection, which of the following considerations would most directly undermine the validity of the mining approval?

AThe gap land, despite lacking continuous topographic elevation, may function as a wildlife corridor, groundwater recharge zone, and dust-barrier — making physical discontinuity an insufficient basis for excluding it from Aravalli protection.
BThe state revenue department lacks the constitutional authority to classify land as non-forest; such classification is exclusively the domain of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
CLimestone mining is categorically prohibited in all Aravalli districts under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, regardless of whether the site falls within or outside identified hill segments.
DThe Supreme Court's 2002 and 2018 orders explicitly demarcated a 500-metre buffer zone around all Aravalli hill segments within which no commercial activity is permissible.
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Environment & EcologyAnalysisHard

Q3. Consider the following statements regarding the Supreme Court's approach to environmental definitions and the Aravalli protection framework: 1. In the 1996 Godavarman judgment, the Supreme Court held that 'forest' must be understood in its dictionary sense rather than as per revenue records alone — a principle that could analogously support ecosystem-based definitions of the Aravalli range. 2. The constitution of an expert committee by the Supreme Court to re-examine the Aravalli definition is an exercise of its original jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution, as it involves enforcement of the fundamental right to a healthy environment. 3. The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel model has been cited as a precedent for creating a dedicated institutional mechanism to manage ecologically sensitive ranges with overlapping multi-state and multi-agency jurisdictions. 4. The Supreme Court's Aravalli-related orders of 2002 and 2018 restricted both mining and construction activities in the region, reflecting a precautionary approach to ecological protection. Which of the statements given above are correct?

A1, 3 and 4 only
B1 and 4 only
C2, 3 and 4 only
D1, 2, 3 and 4
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