Activists fight to save India's ancient Aravalli range from illegal mining

India's Aravalli mountain range, one of the world's oldest at billions of years, is under severe threat from decades of unregulated open-cast stone mining across multiple states. The mining has destroyed farmland, depleted water sources, and spread dust pollution, while activists warn that 27 percent of the range has already been lost. The Aravalli acts as a critical natural barrier between the Thar Desert and the fertile Gangetic plains, shielding the region — including New Delhi — from dust storms and heatwaves. A 2025 court order intended to strengthen protections has been criticised for creating legal ambiguity that may enable further degradation, with campaigners citing millions of dollars' worth of illegal mining in individual villages.

Al Jazeera's Imogen Kimber reports.

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