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Journalism of Courage
DHRANGADHRA, MARCH 7: Look at the horizon tracing the sands of the Little Rann of Kutch and you see sparkling water beckoning you. It’s a mirage. And then suddenly your vision is obstructed by a posse of trucks flitting through the desert. But unfortunately, this time round it’s not a mirage. Because the legacy of carbon monoxide left behind by the trucks in the only wild ass sanctuary of the world is for real.
And though this time, too, the census of the wild ass at the sanctuary, covering 4,953 sq km, might show a figure marginally better than the previous one conducted in 1990, the figures in future might read differently. There is a storm brewing in the deserts and it threatens to take away in its wake innocent wild asses disturbed by turbines, choked by vehicular pollution and pushed by the numerous salt pans — many of them illegal that dot the sanctuary.
“And why shouldn’t the growth figure decline? This area produces nearly 28 lakh tonnes of salt and needs 2,80,000 trips by trucks for its transportation through the deserts,” says Babi.
But noise and air pollution created as a result of the burgeoning salt industry in the Little Rann of Kutch are not the only reasons driving the beasts towards human habitation. And perhaps extinction. The Indian Army’s Field Firing Zone inside the sanctuary (217 sq km) adds to the wild asses’ horror.
Taking note of the threat to wildlife at the sanctuary, Gujarat High Court recently ordered a ban on new leases. It also asked the government to complete the settlement of rights of the people from five districts in the Rann, pending since 1973. And though the government on its part appointed a special additional collector for the purpose, it is obvious that the problem for the animals has been compounded by the salt activities.
And even as local politicians hold that for 2,500 animals the area is far too big, the Gujarat Ecological Education & Research (GEER) Foundation, which conducted a comprehensive study on the bio-diversity and management issues related to the sanctuary has recommended that the salt work — continuing since 1873 — should be limited to certain salt zones.
The report, submitted in December 1998, specifically mentions that new leases for salt manufacture should not be allowed and that expired leases should not be renewed. “The Rann is a unique ecosystem in the world,” the report states, adding, “the problem has arisen due to salt manufacturing activity gaining momentum in the last few years.”
The report also advises that regulated salt activity should be allowed in suggested zones totalling 576 sq km and that “the big patch of salt pan 430 ha in north Sansiyasa and Phulpura village observed only in 1995 should be removed from the sanctuary.”
But the report also express anxiety over the plight of the Agarias (salt workers). “Rehabilitation of Agarias to other areas is a difficult and sensitive issue,” it notes.
This is one point B.M. Prajapati, Dy Collector, Dhrangadhra, totally agrees with. “The lives of more than 70,000 people in 16 villages will be jeopardised,” he says. “The government is not agreeing to the recommendations.”
Prajapati also says that in the new recommended leases many salt workers will have to travel up to 45 km to reach their place of work “which is ridiculous.”
Meanwhile, supplementing the enormous problems created by unchecked illegal salt manufacturing activities is the killer plant Prosopia juliflora (Ganda Bawal). The forest department, as part of its desertification programme, planted this species in 1953. But the programme has backfired as the plant which is is spreading at the rate of 900 ha per year is eating up the grasslands, pushing the wild ass and other animals towards human habitat.The hardy wild ass (Ghudhhar), which withstands extreme desert conditions, might just not be able to tide over these trials, and history could well have another instance of man marauding animal.
