🪶 WISDOM DROP – 041
In-depth Current Affairs Essay for IAS Mains (GS Papers)
Aravalli and Himalaya: Mountains, Time, and the Meaning of Geological Memory
A. Mountains as Records of Deep Time
Mountains are not merely elevations on Earth’s surface; they are archives of geological time. Each range carries within it a story of tectonic collisions, erosion, climate evolution, and the long dialogue between Earth’s interior forces and surface processes. When courts and governments debate how to define a mountain range, they are, knowingly or unknowingly, intervening in this deep-time narrative.
The recent Supreme Court acceptance of a new definition for the Aravalli Hills brings this reality into focus. To understand why this decision is ecologically and historically significant, one must first understand how mountains are born, how they age, and why some endure as ancient skeletons while others rise as youthful giants.
B. How Mountains Form: The Geological Framework
Mountain formation, or orogeny, occurs primarily through three broad processes:
- Fold Mountains – Formed by the collision of tectonic plates, compressing sediments into towering ranges.
- Block Mountains – Created by faulting and vertical displacement of Earth’s crust.
- Volcanic and Residual Mountains – Formed through volcanic activity or left behind as erosion-resistant remnants.
The age of a mountain range is not determined by its height, but by the last major tectonic event that shaped it. Young mountains tend to be high, jagged, and tectonically active. Old mountains are lower, rounded, and heavily eroded, but geologically far more precious because they preserve Earth’s earliest continental history.
C. The Aravalli Range: India’s Geological Ancestor
The Aravalli Range is among the oldest fold mountain systems in the world, dating back nearly 1.5 to 2.5 billion years, to the Proterozoic era. It predates not only the Himalayas but even the existence of complex multicellular life.
Geologically, the Aravallis were formed due to ancient continental collisions during the assembly of early supercontinents. Over billions of years, wind, water, and temperature variations have worn them down into their present form: low, discontinuous, rugged hills with rocky outcrops rather than soaring peaks.
This extreme age explains several characteristics:
- Rounded hilltops instead of sharp peaks
- Sparse vegetation in many stretches
- Extensive exposure of ancient metamorphic and igneous rocks
Their apparent “smallness” is therefore not weakness, but antiquity.
D. Why the Aravallis Matter Ecologically
Despite their modest height, the Aravallis play an outsized ecological role:
- They act as a natural barrier against desertification, slowing the eastward expansion of the Thar Desert.
- They regulate wind patterns, with even 20–30 metre elevations functioning as windbreaks.
- They serve as a watershed for rivers such as the Luni, Sabarmati, and Banas.
- They support dry deciduous forests, scrublands, grasslands, and rich biodiversity adapted to semi-arid conditions.
In environmental science, function matters more than form. A low hill that blocks desert winds or stores groundwater can be more valuable than a tall mountain that serves no such role.
E. The Himalayas: Earth’s Youngest Giants
In sharp contrast stand the Himalayas, the youngest and most dramatic mountain range on Earth. They were formed only about 50 million years ago, when the Indian Plate collided with the Eurasian Plate after drifting northward from Gondwana.
This collision is ongoing, which is why:
- The Himalayas are still rising
- The region is seismically active
- Peaks are sharp, high, and unstable
The Himalayas represent geological youth, dynamism, and raw tectonic energy. Their height and visual dominance often overshadow older systems like the Aravallis in public perception.
But youth in geology means instability, while age means structural wisdom.
F. Old Mountains, New Threats
The Supreme Court’s concern with the Aravallis arises from a paradox:
the oldest mountains are often the most vulnerable.
Because the Aravallis are low and fragmented, they are frequently dismissed as expendable land rather than recognised as ancient ecological infrastructure. Over decades, this has led to:
- Legal and illegal mining
- Urban expansion
- Quarrying and construction
The court’s earlier directive to define the Aravallis uniformly was meant to end regulatory ambiguity. However, the newly accepted 100-metre height criterion risks excluding nearly 90% of the Aravalli landscape from legal protection.
From a geological standpoint, this is deeply problematic.
G. The Flaw in Height-Based Definitions
Height-based definitions may work for young fold mountains like the Himalayas, but they are scientifically unsuited for ancient residual ranges like the Aravallis.
Old mountains are defined by:
- Geological continuity
- Structural alignment
- Ecological function
not by sheer elevation.
Reducing a 2-billion-year-old mountain system to a numerical height threshold ignores the reality that erosion is the natural destiny of ancient mountains, not evidence of insignificance.
H. Judicial Intervention and Environmental Governance
The Supreme Court’s involvement reflects a broader evolution in Indian environmental jurisprudence:
- From reactive pollution control
- To preventive ecological protection
By directing the preparation of a Management Plan for Sustainable Mining with the help of ICFRE, the Court acknowledges that conservation must coexist with regulated economic activity.
Yet, governance frameworks must be aligned with geological logic, not just administrative convenience.
I. Aravallis, Himalayas, and the Philosophy of Conservation
Comparing the Aravallis and Himalayas reveals a deeper lesson for environmental governance:
- The Himalayas remind us of Earth’s power to build
- The Aravallis remind us of Earth’s patience to endure
Protecting only what looks grand risks abandoning what is quietly essential.
The Aravallis do not demand attention through height or snow-capped drama. They serve silently, stabilising climate, air, water, and soil across northwestern India.
J. Way Forward: Science Before Semantics
A sustainable future for the Aravallis requires:
- Definitions based on geomorphology and ecology, not height alone
- Recognition of ancient mountain systems as non-renewable natural heritage
- Policy frameworks that treat erosion-shaped landscapes as functionally alive, not geologically dead
In geological time, the Himalayas will one day erode into something resembling the Aravallis. What we protect today is not just land, but Earth’s memory of itself.
🪶 Closing Reflection — IAS Monk
“The tallest mountains teach us awe,
but the oldest mountains teach us humility.
What survives for billions of years
does not shout its importance —
it simply holds the world together.”
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