Letters to the Editor: Aravallis under Siege

Aravallis under siege

The Aravallis are being ripped apart in broad daylight, and the nation is watching. Mining has reduced one of the oldest mountain ranges on Earth to a quarry, an ATM for greed masquerading as development. Protests have erupted across India because people can see what is being done—systematic, calculated destruction. What is truly infuriating, however, is not just the crime but the chorus of defenders scrambling to justify it with arguments so flimsy they collapse under the weight of basic logic.

Let’s be clear: there is no sane, informed, or morally defensible argument for this. None. To defend the annihilation of the Aravallis is to defend ecological suicide. These mountains are not decorative backdrops; they are groundwater lifelines, climate regulators, and shields against desertification. Destroying them for mining is not “development”—it is vandalism with paperwork.

The excuses are an insult to our intelligence. Jobs? Growth? Progress? As if poisoned aquifers, heatwaves, and collapsing ecosystems will employ anyone. As if future generations will thank us for turning ancient mountains into rubble. This isn’t ignorance anymore; it’s arrogance. It’s the smug confidence of people who believe money can replace water, forests, and air.

History will not be kind to those who stood by—or worse, cheered—while the Aravallis were dismantled. Defending this destruction doesn’t make you pragmatic or realistic. It makes you complicit. And no amount of hollow reasoning can wash that stain away.

Noopur Baruah,

Tezpur