Scores of Aravali hills have vanished in the past 20 years due to unchecked mining and Urbanisation, threatening the and Fauna of one of the worlds oldest mountain ranges and leaving the path open for sandstorms from the Thar desert to hitthe nationalcapital region (NCR) and western UP and increased conflicts with animals, warns an ongoing study on the state of the hill range.
The findings have come in a research of the Central University ofRajasthan(CURaj), which has identified over 31 hills in the upper Aravali range that have disappeared in the last two decades, besides hundreds of hills in the lower and middle levels.
The systematic disappearance of hills at the upper level was recorded in Naraina, Kalwar, Kotputli, Jhalana and Sariska with heights of 200 metres to 600 metres above sea level. However, the count of vanishing hills at the lower and middle level, with heights between 50 to 200 metres above sea level, has yet to be completed. All I can share now are the preliminary results which are very alarming, saidL K Sharma, head of department of environmental science, CURaj.
The destruction of hills and forests in the Aravalis, apart from exposing NCR to more sandstorms, has also led to increased man-animal conflict. Leopards, chinkara and sambhar deer, which live in the hills, have been entering human settlements. Rare Plants like neel, chonakurinji and karun kurinji also face wipe-out threats, says a study conducted by the Central University of Rajasthan (CURaj).