Posted on 28th December, 2025 (GMT 17:22 hrs)

Issued by Ecotopians of Alternity (EOA)⤡ under the Once in a Blue Moon Academia (OBMA) Collective Platform

The Ecotopians of Alternity (EOA) as part of the Once in a Blue Moon Academia (OBMA) Collective asserts that the current legal crisis surrounding the Aravalli mountain range is a deliberate act of “definitional erasure” that threatens the ecological survival of North India. By narrowing the definition of these ancient hills to landforms rising 100 meters or more, the state effectively excludes over 90% of the range—including critical lower ridges, scrub forests, and groundwater recharge zones—from legal protection. This is not a neutral administrative update but a strategic maneuver that renders ecologically vital terrain “invisible” to the law, thereby clearing the path for corporate mining and real-estate expansion. Drawing on the Indian philosophical concept of lakṣaṇa (defining something based on characteristic mark), the EOA argues that a definition based solely on height fails to capture the holistic reality of an ecosystem that stops desertification and sustains regional aquifers. This logic of reductionism mirrors a broader national pattern of prioritizing extractivist “developmental rationality” over indigenous lifeworlds and long-term climate resilience, as seen in projects from Great Nicobar to Hasdeo Arand. Against this regime, the EOA calls for a coordinated resistance that refuses to let life be reduced to “administrative residue,” demanding a lived ecological imagination that protects the Aravallis as an indivisible, living system rather than a collection of disposable units.

The struggle to save the Aravalli mountain range is not merely an environmental dispute; it is a profound epistemic, political, and ethical crisis concerning how nature is defined, recognized, and consequently protected in contemporary India. Stretching across Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), as well as Gujarat, the Aravallis—among the oldest mountain systems on Earth, with rocks dating back over 3 billion years and major fold belts formed in the Proterozoic Eon (approximately 2.5–1 billion years ago)—have for millennia functioned as an ecological spine for North India: arresting the eastward advance of the Thar Desert, recharging aquifers through fractured and porous rocks that facilitate rainwater percolation (with estimates of up to two million litres of groundwater recharge per hectare in some landscapes), sustaining rich biodiversity including endangered species like leopards and hyenas, regulating microclimates, and acting as a crucial ecological buffer against escalating air pollution and dust storms in the Delhi-NCR.

Their value cannot be reduced to altitude, cartographic prominence, or scenic grandeur. It resides in their dispersed ridges, scrub forests, rocky outcrops, seasonal streams, wildlife corridors, and intricately interwoven micro-ecologies that sustain life across entire regions. Scientific studies confirm that even the lower hills, foothills, and connective zones are critical for biodiversity, aquifer recharge, and preventing the desertification of the Indo-Gangetic plains. Yet beyond these measurable functions, these landscapes carry intrinsic worth—ethical as well as aesthetic—that demands urgent recognition in a moment defined by overlapping climate and ecological crises.

Recent legal and administrative developments have rendered this ancient range acutely vulnerable through a deeply troubling act of definitional narrowing. On November 20, 2025, the Supreme Court accepted a uniform definition proposed by a Ministry of Environment-led committee, restricting “Aravalli Hills” to landforms rising 100 metres or more above local relief, with clusters within 500 metres (including intervening land) forming ranges. This has sparked widespread controversy, with critics—including the Court’s own Central Empowered Committee and Forest Survey of India assessments—arguing it excludes over 90% of ecologically vital lower ridges, foothills, and recharge zones, potentially enabling corporate mining and extractive “developmental” agenda in previously protected areas. The government maintains that protections remain robust under forest laws, with no new mining leases permitted until a Management Plan for Sustainable Mining is finalized by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, and existing operations limited to 0.19–2% of the range.

However, protests erupted in December 2025 across Rajasthan (Udaipur, Jaipur), Haryana (Gurugram), and Delhi, with activists decrying the ruling as opening vulnerable zones to extraction. On December 27, 2025, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the controversy, listing the matter for hearing on December 29, 2025. Meanwhile, the Rajasthan government has announced a large-scale joint crackdown on illegal mining across 20 Aravalli districts—yet such enforcement drives must address the root vulnerability created by the new definition, lest they remain symptomatic rather than systemic.

This is not a neutral classificatory exercise; it is an act of structural erasure that converts ecological complexity into administrative invisibility, thereby enabling mining, real-estate speculation, and infrastructure expansion under the language of regulatory clarity and “developmental rationality.” This definitional narrowing initiates a vicious and self-reinforcing cycle. Once the Aravallis are reclassified through an impoverished definition, vast stretches of ecologically critical terrain are pushed outside the ambit of environmental norms, safeguards, and regulatory scrutiny. What is no longer recognized as “forest,” “hill,” or “ecologically sensitive zone” ceases to demand protection, clearance rigor, or precautionary assessment. This administrative exile does not render the land neutral; it renders it available. Crony corporate mining interests (the BJP’s favourite: Adani?!), real-estate developers, and infrastructure consortia then move into these newly unprotected zones under the guise of legality, claiming compliance precisely because the ecosystem has been legislatively erased. As extraction and construction intensify, ecological degradation accelerates, which is then retroactively cited to justify further exclusion—“already degraded,” “non-forest,” “non-hill”—thus deepening the cycle. Definition becomes the first act of dispossession; plunder follows as its logical and legalized consequence.

Indian philosophy offers a powerful lens to diagnose this crisis. In classical epistemology, lakṣaṇa (definition or characteristic mark) performs a dual operation: it points toward an object (uddeśa) while simultaneously excluding what does not fall within its criteria (vyāvṛtti). Definition is thus never innocent; it produces boundaries, margins, and zones of neglect. When lakṣaṇa is impoverished—reduced to a single, quantifiable attribute—it ceases to illuminate reality and instead distorts it. The excluded remainder does not disappear; it is merely rendered unprotected, vulnerable, and available for extraction.

The contemporary treatment of the Aravallis exemplifies this philosophical danger, displaying the violence of definition in its nakedness. By privileging height as the sole defining trait, the state fragments a continuous ecological system into administratively disposable units. What survives in law is a truncated abstraction; what is lost on the ground is water security, breathable air, biodiversity, and ecological resilience itself.

This logic reflects a broader and deeply entrenched pattern under BJP-led governance, where corporate, infrastructural, and extractivist imperatives repeatedly triumph over ecological prudence, democratic process, and scientific caution. From the Great Nicobar mega-project—threatening endemic ecosystems, coral reefs, leatherback turtle nesting sites, and indigenous Shompen and Nicobarese lifeworlds amid ongoing seismic risks and legal challenges—to continued coal mining expansions in Hasdeo Arand despite sustained Adivasi resistance, forest diversions, and biodiversity loss; from the ecologically destabilizing Char Dham highway expansion in the Himalayas, linked to doubled landslide frequencies, slope instability, and debris issues in fragile zones, to the push for high-speed rail corridors and bullet train projects through sensitive landscapes; from chronic AQI crises in Indian cities to the normalization of environmental clearance dilution—so-called “development” (as presumed in consumerist, debt-generating, wasteful globalization paradigm) is consistently framed through narrowly engineered definitions that discount long-term ecological risk.

Similar patterns of norm-dilution and extractivist privileging can be seen elsewhere: in Barmer (Rajasthan) where industrial and mining violations have led to chemically contaminated groundwater and urgent National Green Tribunal scrutiny; in Jaisalmer, where villagers oppose a cement factory and limestone mine threatening ancestral lands, livelihoods, and scarce water; in the Saryu–Gomti confluence, where migratory bird habitats have collapsed under illegal mining; and through attempts to exempt projects from prior environmental clearance altogether—all of which reflect a broader permissive shift that foregrounds extractive and corporate interests over long‑term ecological integrity.

Against this regime of reduction, grassroots resistance has emerged as a counter-epistemology. Local communities, pastoral groups, environmental collectives, students, activists, scientists, and independent researchers across Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi have mobilized to assert a fundamental truth: ecological systems cannot be dismembered by administrative decree. Indigenous and local wisdom traditions—rooted in relational understandings of land, water, forest, and mountain—offer an alternative to the state’s impoverished lakṣaṇa.

Globally, the struggle for the Aravallis resonates with movements to protect the Amazon rainforest, resist extractivism in the Andes, defend water protectors at Standing Rock, and oppose mining and infrastructure projects across Africa and Southeast Asia.

Ecotopians of Alternity (EOA), under the Once in a Blue Moon Academia (OBMA) collective platform, affirms that the defense of the Aravallis must be situated within a larger, coordinated ecological frontier. The air-quality emergency in NCR, resistance to the Great Nicobar project, the Save Hasdeo movement, opposition to destructive linear infrastructure including bullet train corridors, protests against the Char Dham highway expansion, struggles for agro-urban and rural commons, and the fight to save Ladakh’s ecological integrity as part of the Third Pole (The eco-sensitive Himalayas)—with unwavering support for Sonam Wangchuk⤡—are not isolated campaigns. They are diverse yet interconnected expressions of the same profound systemic failure: a refusal to think and govern ecologically, ethically, and holistically, subordinating living systems and future generations to short-term extractive corporatized imperatives.

We stand for a renewed ecological struggle that challenges not only policies and projects, but the very definitions through which nature is rendered governable, “exchangeable” (nature reduced through the money-signifier by treating it as merely an economic resource) exploitable, and disposable. EOA through OBMA commit to fostering intellectual solidarity, rigorous research, philosophical critique, and grounded alliances that bridge theory, activism, and indigenous ecological wisdom.

In resisting definitional exclusion, we affirm a simple yet urgent truth: what is denied protection today becomes the site of irreversible loss tomorrow. Our struggle must be coordinated, uncompromising, and rooted in an ecological imagination that refuses to let life be reduced to bureaucratic residue. This fight insists, instead, on justice for the living system of the Earth—and all who depend upon it. The Aravalli struggle is inseparable from the larger struggle to reclaim memory, to remember what our future depends upon before it is made to disappear through state-corporate onslaughts.

SOURCES

The following is a curated list of key sources that provide factual background, reports, and analyses on the topics discussed in the provided text, including the Supreme Court’s definition of the Aravalli Hills, recent protests, suo motu actions, enforcement against illegal mining, and the ecological significance of the range (e.g., groundwater recharge and desertification prevention). These are drawn from recent news, court documents, and environmental reports published around November-December 2025. I’ve selected the most relevant and credible ones to substantiate the core claims.

1. Aravalli Hills: Protecting Ecology and Ensuring Sustainable Development – https://www.pib.gov.in/FactsheetDetails.aspx?id=150596&NoteId=150596&ModuleId=16&reg=3&lang=1 (Government factsheet on Supreme Court orders from November-December 2025, including proposed definitions and improvements.)
2. With a new identity, the Aravalli hills stare at an uncertain future – https://india.mongabay.com/2025/12/with-a-new-identity-the-aravalli-hills-stare-at-an-uncertain-future/ (Analysis of the Supreme Court’s approval of the Aravalli definition, emphasizing geological and ecological exclusions.)
3. ISSUE RELATING TO DEFINITION OF ARAVALI HILLS (PDF) – https://api.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/1995/2997/2997_1995_1_1502_66178_Judgement_20-Nov-2025.pdf (Official Supreme Court judgment dated November 20, 2025, detailing the 100-meter elevation definition.)
4. Supreme Court Takes Suo Motu Case On Aravalli Hills’ Definition – https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/supreme-court-takes-suo-motu-cognizance-on-aravalli-hills-definition-516223 (Report on the suo motu cognizance taken on December 27, 2025, with hearing set for December 29.)
5. How the Supreme Court’s New Definition Threatens India’s Oldest Mountain Range – https://www.groundxero.in/2025/12/10/the-aravalli-ridge-under-siege-how-the-supreme-courts-new-definition-threatens-indias-oldest-mountain-range/ (Critique of the November 20, 2025, definition and its potential for enabling mining in excluded areas.)
6. New Aravalli Definition Threatens India’s Oldest Mountain Range – https://www.downtoearth.org.in/forests/uniform-definition-of-aravallis-accepted-by-supreme-court-will-be-catastrophic-for-indias-oldest-mountain-range (Discussion of the November 20, 2025, judgment and its catastrophic implications for the range.)
7. Why India’s Aravalli hills are at the centre of growing protests – https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5ln4wee7wo (Coverage of December 2025 protests in Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi against the new definition.)
8. SC takes suo motu cognisance of Aravalli Range, hearing on Dec 29 – https://www.thenewsminute.com/news/sc-takes-suo-motu-cognisance-of-aravalli-range-hearing-on-dec-29 (Details on protests in Udaipur, Jodhpur, Sikar, and Alwar, and the Supreme Court’s response.)
9. Aravalli row: Supreme Court steps in as protests mount, to hear the matter on Monday – https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2025/12/28/aravalli-row-supreme-court-steps-in-as-protests-mount-to-hear-the-matter-on-monday.html (Overview of widespread protests and the suo motu case amid environmental concerns.)
10. Why has the new definition of the Aravalli hills triggered a protest? – https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/why-has-the-new-definition-of-the-aravalli-hills-triggered-a-protest-what-activists-say-101766282181567.html (Activist perspectives on protests, including slogans like “Save Aravalli, Save the Future.”)
11. Aravalli hills row: Supreme Court to hear suo motu case on Monday – https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/aravalli-hills-row-supreme-court-to-hear-suo-motu-case-on-monday-december-29-5-key-facts-101766934662391.html (Key facts on the December 27, 2025, suo motu action and upcoming hearing.)
12. Over 1,200 mining leases active in Aravalli districts across Rajasthan – https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/over-1200-mining-leases-active-in-aravalli-districts-across-rajasthan/articleshow/126208817.cms (Data on active mining leases and Rajasthan’s crackdown efforts in 20 districts.)
13. Over 7000 illegal mining FIRs in Rajasthan in 7 years – https://indianexpress.com/article/india/over-7000-illegal-mining-firs-in-rajasthan-7-years-aravalli-districts-10439539/ (Statistics on illegal mining cases in the Aravalli belt from recent years.)
14. Cases Pile Up As Aravalli Mining Curbs Fail To Halt Violations In Rajasthan – https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/cases-pile-up-as-aravalli-mining-curbs-fail-to-halt-violations-in-rajasthan-9934875 (Report on persistent illegal mining despite enforcement, with FIR data up to 2025-26.)
15. Aravalli lesson: Law must factor in ecology – https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/aravalli-lesson-law-must-factor-in-ecology-101766939379343.html (Opinion on the Aravallis’ role in groundwater recharge and as a barrier against desertification.)
16. How is the Aravalli range to be protected? | Explained – https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/how-is-the-aravalli-range-to-be-protected-explained/article70408703.ece (Explainer on ecological impacts, including plummeting groundwater and illegal mining contributions.)
17. The Battle for the Aravallis: Why We Must Protect Every Tree and Hill – https://farmlandbazaar.com/blog/aravallis-why-protecting-every-tree-and-hill-matters/6948d933c6b1e98dd29a739a (Discussion of the range’s role in preventing Thar Desert expansion and regulating climate.)