The Lift Line
“When you mine stone, the mountain does not yield a mineral. The mountain leaves.”
Why This Editorial Matters for Your Exam
The Aravallis are a live GS3 and geography topic: the Supreme Court is waiting for a scientific definition of the range, and the debate is often framed as “mining versus no mining”. This column by Arefa Tehsin, an author and former Honorary Wildlife Warden of Udaipur whose grandfather once held mining leases in the hills, reframes it as legal versus illegal mining and enforcement versus announcements. Read it with our earlier report on the Supreme Court’s deadline for the Aravalli committee.
GS Paper 3: Conservation, environmental degradation, environmental impact assessment; mineral resources. GS Paper 1: Physical geography (mountain systems); distribution of key natural resources.
| Concept | Meaning | Why it is testable |
|---|---|---|
| Illegal mining | Extraction without a lease, or outside the sanctioned area or quantity of a lease | States enforce it under Section 23C of the MMDR Act, 1957 |
| Minor minerals | Building stone, gravel, ordinary clay and sand, as notified by the Centre | Regulated by the States under Section 15 of the MMDR Act |
| Cumulative impact assessment | Assessing the combined effect of many projects in one landscape | Contrasts with lease-by-lease clearance |
| Silicosis | An incurable lung disease caused by inhaling crystalline silica dust | Endemic among sandstone and stone-quarry workers in Rajasthan |
| No-go zone | An area where mining is barred on ecological grounds | The author’s core recommendation |
Background and Context
The definition dispute (background). On 20 November 2025, the Supreme Court accepted an Environment Ministry committee’s definition of an Aravalli hill as a landform rising 100 metres or more above local relief, and of a range as two or more such hills within 500 metres. After protests that a height threshold would leave most of the range unprotected, a Bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant kept that judgment in abeyance on 29 December 2025 and ordered a fresh expert committee, the background to the process now under way. The High-Powered Committee, chaired by ICFRE Director General Kanchan Devi, must report by a non-extendable deadline of 30 November 2026.
The range. The Aravallis run about 670 km from near Palanpur in Gujarat through Rajasthan and Haryana to the Delhi Ridge. Formed in the Proterozoic era, they are among the oldest fold mountains in the world; Guru Shikhar (1,722 m) at Mount Abu is the highest point.
The Analysis
1. The squeeze on legal mining is the wrong target. Capping legal mining, the author warns, is “a Band-Aid on a broken bone”. If legal supply shrinks while demand for stone grows, illegal mining becomes more profitable, not less.
2. The numbers show the enforcement gap. A CAG performance audit of mining in Rajasthan (covering the years up to 2019-20) used remote sensing to find illegal mining near 34 per cent of test-checked leases and recorded weak inspection and monitoring. The Environment Ministry’s statement that only 0.19 per cent of the landscape is open to mining is, in the author’s words, “true, legally, but not rationally”, because illegal quarrying is not in that figure.
3. The human cost is concentrated on the poorest. The author cites more than 25,000 silicosis cases and over 1,100 deaths in Rajasthan, more than 29,000 recorded instances of illegal mining in Aravalli districts of Rajasthan between 2018 and 2023, and the killing of a Haryana DSP crushed by a stone-laden dumper in 2022 while trying to stop illegal mining.
4. Not every mine is the same. Rajasthan is India’s only producer of wollastonite; Zawar near Udaipur has a zinc-mining history reaching back centuries; Jhamar Kotra holds rock phosphate; and the State has copper, tungsten, graphite and prospects of lithium and rare earths. A regulated mine within its boundary is not the same as a crew that “blasts away an entire hill at night”.
5. Governance, not technology, is the missing input. Satellite imagery, drones, GPS-based tracking of trucks, weighbridges and public dashboards are all available; forest, revenue, police, mining and pollution-control agencies do not act together.
6. Protection works when it is simple. Fencing a rocky patch and stopping grazing, woodcutting and quarrying lets dhok and khair regenerate on their own; leopards and sloth bears still hold out in these hills.
The precision that earns marks. Under the MMDR Act, 1957, the Centre regulates major minerals, while minor minerals such as building stone are regulated by State rules (Section 15). Section 23C empowers State governments to make rules to prevent illegal mining, transportation and storage. The “Aravalli mining ban” is not one law: it is a series of Supreme Court orders in M.C. Mehta v. Union of India and a 1992 Environment Ministry notification restricting activities in parts of the range.
Data and Institutions Vault
Prelims-grade facts:
The range:
- The Aravallis span Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi; Guru Shikhar (1,722 m) is the highest peak.
- They are among the world’s oldest fold mountains, formed in the Proterozoic era.
- Background: the 20 November 2025 height-based definition is in abeyance since 29 December 2025; the new committee reports by 30 November 2026.
The minerals and the law:
- Rajasthan is the only producer of wollastonite in India; Zawar is known for zinc and Jhamar Kotra for rock phosphate.
- Minor minerals are regulated by the States; Section 23C of the MMDR Act, 1957 covers illegal mining.
The numbers (as cited by the author):
- Illegal mining near 34 per cent of test-checked leases (CAG audit, Rajasthan).
- Only 0.19 per cent of the landscape open to mining (Environment Ministry).
- More than 25,000 silicosis cases and over 1,100 deaths in Rajasthan.
Prelims, the traps:
- The Aravallis are older than the Himalayas, which are young fold mountains of the Cenozoic era.
- The Delhi Ridge is the northern tail of the Aravallis, not a separate range.
⚠️ Watch the trap: a lease is legal only within its sanctioned boundary and approved quantity; extraction beyond either is illegal mining even by a leaseholder.
The Debate
For the author’s view. The damage comes overwhelmingly from quarrying that pays no royalty, follows no plan and answers to no one. Targeting legal miners punishes the regulated while rewarding the unregulated.
The complication. In a fragile, water-recharging range, even compliant mining adds up: dust, blasting and pit lakes affect aquifers and wildlife across lease lines. Legal leases have often served as cover for extraction far beyond their limits, so a hard cap can be the only rule simple enough to enforce.
The balanced verdict. Let science decide where mining may happen, through a map and no-go zones, and let enforcement decide whether rules bite. Both a blanket ban without enforcement and mining without cumulative assessment will fail the range.
How to Think About This
Ask who a rule actually binds. A restriction on legal activity binds only those who already follow rules; it can push supply to those who do not. Before backing any ban (mining, sand, liquor, plastics), ask how illegal supply will respond and what will make enforcement credible.
Diagram-in-Words
Takeaway Box
- Thesis: illegal mining, not regulated leases, is the main threat to the Aravallis.
- Evidence: illegal mining near 34 per cent of test-checked leases (CAG, Rajasthan); silicosis toll; violence against officials.
- Minerals at stake: wollastonite (Rajasthan only), zinc at Zawar, rock phosphate at Jhamar Kotra.
- Context: the height-based definition is in abeyance; the High-Powered Committee reports by 30 November 2026.
- Author’s answer: scientific map, no-go zones, cumulative assessment, joint enforcement with technology.
Sources: The Indian Express, Supreme Court of India, Ministry of Mines, CAG
Source: A Mountain Cannot Be Saved by a Law That Is Not Enforced: Illegal Mining, Not Legal Leases, Is the Aravallis' Real Enemy — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Editorial Analysis
