Parliament Question: Definition and demarcation of major mountain ranges

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4386 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.04.2026 Definition and demarcation of major mountain ranges 4386. SHRI PRAKASH CHIK BARAIK: Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state: whether there is any definition or notified boundary for the major mountain ranges in the country? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH) The subject matter of defining a major mountain range or notifying boundaries thereof, does not fall in the domain of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). Further, as per information provided by the Survey of India under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), no definition or notified boundary information for the major mountain ranges in India is available with them. The Geological Survey of India (GSI), Ministry of Mines has also informed that the subject matter does not come under the purview of GSI. Further, in respect of Himalayan Range, the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun, under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), has informed that the northern fringe of India is defined by the approximately 2,400 km long Himalayan Mountain Range, which trends from the west-northwest to the east-southeast. This range extends into five countries: Nepal, India, China, Bhutan, and Pakistan. It is bordered to the northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, to the north by the Tibetan Plateau, and to the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Further, Dr. K.S. Valdiya, an eminent Indian geologist, has classified the Himalayas into distinct tectonic zones from north to south, namely, the Tethyan Himalaya, Greater (or Higher) Himalaya, Lesser Himalaya, and the Sub-Himalayan (or Siwalik) range. In geoscience, the Himalayan Mountain Range is tectonically defined by the Indus–Tsangpo Suture to the north, the left-slip Chaman Fault to the west, the right-slip Sagaing Fault to the east, and the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT) to the south. *****