Environmentalists join hands with civil society to spearhead massive campaign to save Aravalli

A massive national movement to save the Aravalli — the oldest mountain range in India — seems to be in the offing with several environmentalists and civil society organisations deciding to reach out to political leadership across party lines and also the Supreme Court, before taking the stir to streets.

However, a consortium of organisations, named Aravalli Virasat Jan Abhiyan and the Bharat Seva Sansthan founded by former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Gandhian thinkers, have opted to have resolved, on the International Mountain Day today, for launching an allout campaign demanding the recall of the Supreme Court verdict of November 20, 2025.

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While the Aravalli Virasat Jan Abhiyan held a press conference to announce the resolve and express their extreme disappointment on the Supreme Court’s for judgement which has put the two-billion-year-old Aravalli range, spread across four states, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat into an Existential Crisis. The press conference was attended by Neelam Ahluwalia of the People for Aravallis ; Lakshmi and Babu Garasia of Bhakhar Bhitrot Vikas Manch Sirohi ; Kailash Meena, Environment Activist, North Rajasthan; Virender Mour, Youth Leader and Coordinator of Rajasthan Kisan Mazdoor Naujawan Sabha, Rajasthan and Kavita Srivastava, National President, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).

“Since it is matter of existential concerns, we want that either the apex court recall its judgement of November 20, 2025 or Parliament and Parliamentians intervene in the matter and appropriate recourse to mitigate the consequences and fallout of the verdict. It this doesn’t happen we would take it to streets all over the country,” Ahluwalia and Srivastava said.

“Immediately, we will reach out to politicians/MPs of all parties and would resort to mass awareness, also make appeal to youths and school children to join us in the campaign, they added.

They said ‘Aravalli Virasat Jan Abhiyaan’ is a people’s campaign to save one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world from being annihilated by senseless definitions and excessive mining. This initiative comes in direct response to the Supreme Court’s November 20, 2025 judgement, which if implemented will wipe out North West India’s barrier against desertification, critical water recharge zone, pollution sink, wildlife habitat and negatively impact food and water security for millions of people’.

The new definition, recommended by the Centre, treats a landform as part of the Aravalli landscape only if it has at least 100 metres of elevation above the local relief, including the landform’s slopes and adjacent areas. According to an assessment by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), only 1048 of 12,081 mapped hills in 15 districts of Rajasthan where 80% of the Aravalli range is situated — just 8.7% hills — meet the 100-metre height criteria”, Ahluwalia said.

Over the last few decades, destruction of the Aravalli hills across the 692 km range has been to such a massive extent that about 12 breaches have opened up extending from Ajmer to Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan and Mahendergarh district in South Haryana from where dust from the Thar desert has been blowing into Delhi-NCR adding to the pollution woes of this region, Virender Mour said.

Kavita Srivastava, PUCL said, “The Aravalli Virasat Jan Abhiyaan demands that the Supreme Court recalls its November 20, 2025 judgement accepting the new uniform definition of Aravalli hills and ranges as the decision risks irreversible damage to North West India’s only barrier against desertification, critical water recharge zones, pollution sinks, wildlife habitats and public health. We also demand that the government scrap the regressive uniform definition of the Aravallis and declare the Aravalli range spread over 692 km across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi as a ‘Critical Ecological Zone’ in view of its significance for the eco-system services the range provides for millions of people and to protect the home of our precious wildlife. All mining and stone crushing activities and waste dumping &burning near human habitation, agricultural fields, water bodies, wildlife sensitive zones must be stopped.

Meanwhile, the Bharat Seva Sansthan also held a seminar to discuss the issue and devise a strategy for future course of remedial action, of course, in sync with the consortium of the organisations.

Leader of the Opposition in Rajasthan assembly (LoP) Tikaram Jully, Waterman of India Dr Rajendra Singh, Neelam Ahluwalia Kailash Meena, Congress leader Vaibhav Gehlot, Jayesh Joshi and Giridhari Singh Bafna also participated in the seminar.

After the seminar the participants, including LoP Jully held that all efforts would be made to save the Aravalli. Waterman Singh said that Review petition before the apex court could also be filed.