The case of Aravalli is one example of it. It has deep connections with those living around it, and faces a major threat from human kind, though the role it has played in shaping their lives is simply great. The Range has provided for meeting all their basic needs. The stability in their lives, with livelihood, space to live, and also clothes are all the gifts of the same. It is simply immeasurable. So far as the controversies that are raised around it, Supreme Court has sought a review of the existing one. For those who have realized the immense value of the range in their lives, it is beyond physical dimension. There has been hardly any reply, as even the definition provided by the Supreme Court, has been branded as too narrow in scope.

Amidst all these controversies, the question is raised about what Aravallis are. The apex court has sought a new evaluation and a yardstick for defining the Range. It may be added here that the Range stretches over 600 km across four states and, it is 2 billion years old. The Range represents India’s oldest fold mountains.

The Supreme Court’s recent decision to stay its past judgment accepting the controversial 100 metre-elevation definition for Aravali hills has brought the controversy to the fore again. On May 15, the Supreme Court said not an inch of Aravali would be allowed to be used for mining till an expert committee, to be constituted by the apex court, redefined what constitutes Aravali hills and ranges. As lawyers appearing for mining lease holders and those aspiring to get mining leases said the process for renewal and grant of leases could proceed without their finalisation, a bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said, “We will not pass any order to allow resumption of mining activities in Aravallis.”…“We will not allow an inch of Aravali to be used for any purpose unless we are satisfied with the new definition that will be proposed by the expert committee to be constituted by us, taking into account the names suggested by amicus curiae K Parameshwar, Union government and parties,” CJI said.

People living in Aravallis do not agree with the definition given by the Apex Court in the past. It commands a larger influence area. The controversial definition provided by the Apex Court had previously been stayed in December last year.

Rajasthan, which accounts for a significant part of the Aravallis, is populated with those who feel one with the Range itself, synonymous with the Aravallis. Aravallis are not so much in heights as in depth, that is, in the lives of people for whom the entire area is home. There have been attempts to define the Range, but all such documents have been shelved. In one of the shelved definitions, involving a 100m elevation, cutoff and proximity of 500m between hills for demarcating the ranges, has made people scared as it can be defined as significant portion of the Aravallis that would be stripped of environmental protections. For those living in its folds, the stakes are high and to be implemented without losing time.

If the map shrinks, so do forests, grazing commons, water systems, and also the sacred groves. These sacred groves are forest patches protected by local communities due to deep religious, cultural or spiritual significance. These sacred groves are also hot spots for biodiversity, serve as sanctuaries for rare flora and fauna and often dedicated in the name of deities worshipped by locals.

In fact in our country there are an estimated number of 100,000 to 150,000 such groves. These areas are preserves for rare endangered plants and animal species, holding rich biodiversity. Slowly they are threatened by emerging checks that stand between community life and mining, fragmentation and forced migration. For those living in the Range, shelter and sustenance come from these mountains. It is not a modern phenomenon, the mountains have been providing for people since centuries. They have a bond with Aravallis, almost their identity.

The mountains shaped the warfare also. In the past, the Aravallis enabled guerrilla tactics and underground movement based on local knowledge of forests, mountain passes and water sources. If the hills protect, they also sustain. The Aravallis are Rajasthan’s ecological spine. It regulates climate, arrests desertification, feed rivers like the Banas, Luni and Sabarmati, and helps forests survive in a largely arid landscape. It is also a cultural watershed, separating not just river systems flowing towards the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, but also shaping traditions, languages and ways of life.

Among the communities that have made a home here like Bhil, Meena, Garasia, Saharia, Raika, Rewari, Mogia, Nath, and Gurjar, for them the mountains are not a resource, but a living presence. Temples, sacred groves, hilltop shrines, and forest deities dot the landscape and the mountains are treated as a sacred geography. Communities collect food, fuelwood, medicinal herbs, bamboo, tendu leaves and wild fruits from the forest. Rain-fed terraced farming supports hardy crops such as millets and pulses, while hill slopes provide grazing areas for cattle, sheep, goats and camels.

Forest produce are the lifeline for those living in the Aravallis, with their livestock and water. Traditional water systems are central to survival. ‘Johads ’, stepwells, nadis and baoris, are built and maintained collectively. The rainwater is harvested and groundwater is recharged. The water structures are their lifeline. They are protected not by law but by community ethics. (IPA Service)