Aravalli Range

Mountain systems are among the most important constituents of the Earth's natural environment, determining climate, hydrology, biodiversity, and human settlement patterns. In the Indian subcontinent, the Aravalli Range has a special place, on account of its exceptional geological antiquity and high order of ecological significance. Originated during the Pre-Cambrian period, Aravalli Range is considered one of the oldest surviving fold mountain systems in the world, and as such predates even the Himalayas. Stretching over nearly 800 kilometres, from Gujarat through Rajasthan and Haryana to Delhi, the Aravallis have silently supported life and environmental balance in northern India for millions of years. The Aravalli Range has always acted as a natural ecologically sensitive barrier that helped protect the Indo-Gangetic plains, highly fertile and productive for agriculture, from the unstoppable march of the Thar Desert. Its hills, forests, and rocky outcrops are important in regulating the rainfall pattern, recharging aquifers of groundwater, preventing soil erosion, and biodiversity. The range also Modified human civilization by providing natural resources that determined the settlement pattern and sustained agriculture in an otherwise semi-arid region. For several centuries, communities resident around the Aravallis depended on its forests and water systems for livelihoods.