India, Dec. 30 -- In a welcome course correction, the Supreme Court, revisiting its ruling on the definition of the Aravallis suo motu, decided to stay its November 20 order. The court's move to constitute a high-powered expert committee to assess concerns relating to the height-based definition, ecological continuity, and permissible mining is also welcome, considering the importance of the Aravallis to the environmental well-being of northern India. In the wake of the court's rethink, the Centre must now put on hold all policy pronouncements regarding the Aravallis, including surveys and mappings, and freeze all construction and mining in the mountain belt, pending closure of the matter in court. At the heart of the current debate is the Centre's stated decision to open up the Aravallis for exploration and mining of critical minerals and infrastructure projects. This is deemed necessary for economic and strategic reasons, though the minister for environment promised that only 0.19% of the Aravallis will be impacted by mining. This is a vague claim since the area under threat would depend on what is deemed as the Aravallis, and experts have widely different estimates on the area that will lose protection. The central panel had proposed that only landforms located in the 37 Aravalli districts, having an elevation of 100 metres or more above the local relief, should be deemed as a part of the mountain. This would mean that large stretches of the range would not be defined as Aravallis, and hence, could be delineated for mining or other infrastructure. Ironically, the court-appointed Central Empowered Committee in March 2024 backed the Forest Survey of India, which, as per the directions of the Supreme Court in 2010, said all terrain with a slope of three degrees or more should be deemed a part of the Aravalli range. This seems to be a more scientifically rigorous approach to protect an ecologically sensitive region. Remember, the two-billion-year-old Aravallis, the country's oldest fold-mountain range, act as a natural boundary to the Thar desert and protect Delhi and its neighbourhood from desertification, serve as a natural water recharge facility, and provide biodiversity-rich green cover in an otherwise arid region. The region is already facing a shortage of clean air and water, and any further harm to the Aravallis will exacerbate an already grievous public health and resources crisis. It is assuring that the Supreme Court has preferred to consider more expert views before delivering an order that could have major implications for the survival of the Aravallis....