Wildlife in Dhawa Doli, located on the periphery of Rajasthan’s Jodhpur city, is in danger. The reasons are varied, according to wildlife experts and officials.
Dhawa Doli is an oran, as sacred groves in the Thar desert of western Rajasthan are traditionally known.
“Dhawa Doli area is a huge oran. I am very disappointed to see the destruction of wildlife and vegetation here. This area is not protected by the forest department. Being an oran, it is protected by local villagers and community with very strict restrictions. But till now, it has not been conserved,” said Jodhpur Forest Officer Sarita Kumari.
Ecologist and wildlife expert Sumit Dookia said the biggest hurdle in conserving Dhawa Doli was the oran being part of revenue records on paper.
“Since it is part of revenue records, the forest department or administration cannot interfere in it. For example, if something has to be done for the betterment of wildlife or an animal restoration project has to be run, there are hurdles. This is true of not only Dhawa Doli but all the orans of Rajasthan,” said Dookia.
He further explained that there are three types of forests in India, as per law: Reserve forest, protected forest and deemed forest.
“But people here oppose the deemed forest. Because any activity on the oran’s land will require the approval of the forest department,” said Dookia.
A major threat facing wildlife in the oran is the polluted water of the Jojari, a seasonal watercourse and tributary of the Luni river.
Dookia noted that many wild species resident in the Dhawa Doli oran should, in fact, get the same protection as the tiger. “But no one takes any steps for their conservation, nor has any effort been made till now. The toxic waste from industries flows into the Jojari, which makes its water lethal. This water has now reached the oran. The ecosystem here has been ruined,” Dookia rued.
According to data obtained from Jai Narayan Vyas University’s Wildlife Research and Conservation Awareness Centre, Dhawa Doli had 1,416 blackbuck in 1996, 1,202 in 1997 and the last data available with them was 725 blackbuck in 2005.
Data regarding chinkara or Indian gazelle during that time is not available.
According to another paper, there were 401 blackbuck in Dhawa in 2015, while 630 blackbuck were present in the protected area of Guda Bishnoi. According to Chhotaram Prajapati, who conducts a jungle safari in Guda Bishnoi, the number of blackbuck and chinkara has declined by more than 50 per cent in the last 10-15 years.
“Whereas antelope were seen in the hundreds earlier, we now see them only in herds of only 7-8,” said Prajapati. He attributed the decline in antelope numbers to the increasing number of factories and cultivated areas in the area.
According to Hem Singh Gehlot, head of the Wildlife Research and Conservation Awareness Centre at Jai Narayan Vyas University, the number of spiny-tailed lizards found in the area has also declined.
The increasing pollution in the Jojari has led to a decline in the biodiversity of the Dhawa area as well as the number of migratory birds arriving in winter.
According to Gehlot, hunting by free-ranging dogs, conversion of grasslands into fields, destruction of habitat due to farming and factories are other reasons for the decline in the number of wild animals here.
Dookia said around 2008-10, some greedy farmers placed sand bags in the water body, changing its course. They did this to grow winter crops. This diverted the polluted water. Due to this, the situation went out of control.
The wildlife of Jodhpur district was earlier found in other agricultural areas and agriculture was dependent only on rainfall. Therefore, the fields remained open for wild herbivorous animals to graze for about eight months in a year. But now the farms are completely fenced and due to human presence in almost every other agricultural field, the number of dogs has also exploded. They are killing wildlife and have become apex predators in the absence of wolves, said Dookia.
He said the situation can change if Dhawa Doli is declared a protected area like Tal Chhapar. There are more than 4,000 blackbuck in just 800 hectares of the latter sanctuary.