THE nonchalance of salt manufacturers
as well as the government is causing
destruction to the wild ass sanctuary in
the Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. The
Kutch is also home to the near-extinct
Great Indian Bustard, the caracal and
the desert cat.
The Kutch wild ass belongs to the
Asiatic wild ass family and is found
occasionally in Ladakh. It can tolerate
extreme fluctuations in temperature,
from the biting cold of Ladakh at 16,000
feet to the searing heat of the Kutch at
45 C. There were around 5,000 salt
manufacturers in and near the site in
1973, when the area was declared a
sanctuary. The number has unfortunately
increased by 500 per cent. Prakriti
Mandal, a group formed by local
environmentalists to save the sanctuary
vehemently opposes this increase.
Nearly 2,000 trucks engaged in carrying
salt are seen destroying the sanctuary
land day in and day out.
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