Re: The land of Khurs Quote:
Originally Posted by phamilyman Sir ji,
In my 2.5 years in Amdavad, I tripped into Kharaghoda atleast 7-8 times and crossed the Rann from Tikar side once.
Many more chaps have gone into the Rann basis my directions (mostly bikers) and not one guy has ever been asked for the same either!
That said, last I went in 2007, the forest department board was there (from 2004) but no office/staff was ever around to issue the permits. |
Well, may be things have changed since 2007 which is good! There are designated forest guides that you can get from the forest office for a fee. Of course, this is optional and you can choose to explore the area on your own too, at the risk of losing track especially without GPS. But I do agree that the govt isn't doing too many visible efforts to conserve the area. For example, the Nava Talav area which is either bordering the sanctuary or may be even within, has huge irrigation pumps installed every 50 meters or so, after 7AM, the entire area is just humming to the sound of those diesel engines leaving no choice for the wading birds but to stay away.
Most of LRK is under the protected Indian Wild A$$ Sanctuary that is home to the last standing population of the khurs in the world and a variety of other species found in this region. So I do think that some form of regulation is required to keep a count of people moving inside the area. The locals however aren't required to have any permits, but they know that the khurs enjoy more rights than the people and are always respectful of the wildlife that exists there. Recently there were reports of flamingo poaching in the area which is quite sad. |