SAVE THE Aravallis: a slogan that like so many others stirs little response until the cost of ignoring it hits home: no electricity, no water, no construction material and, worst of all, no rain and the daytime temperature perpetually above 50 degrees Celsius. The Aravallis are the oldest mountain range in the world and they are all that stands between Delhi and the desert, buffering the National Capital Region (NCR) against the advance of the Thar and holding down the monsoon as it sweeps over the northern plains. However, indiscriminate stone quarrying and illegal construction in forest area are ravaging the range every day. If matters proceed on their present course, Delhi will be a desert in 40 years. Litigation against mining in the Aravallis has been heard in the Supreme Court for the last 14 years, but it was on February 5, 2009 that the court ordered a ban, until the next hearing, on mining, stone crushing, construction and land sale in the area. TEHELKA, in its visit to the range, found that all these activities were continuing unchecked, with the police hand-in-glove with the violators. VIOLATION 1: PROJECTION OF A FAKE GREENBELT The Central Empowered Committee (CEC), a group of eminent environmentalists, bureaucrats and experts, procured high-resolution satellite images of the Faridabad district Aravallis during January and May 2008. This was done to ascertain village-wise land use and to assess the hills