Rann of Kutch
|
|
The Rann of Kutch is a seasonally marshy region located in the Thar Desert biogeographic province in Gujarat state of northwestern India, which borders the Sind region of Pakistan. The name "Rann" comes from the Hindi word ran meaning "salt marsh". Kutch is the name of the district wherein it is situated. The Rann of Kutch comprises some 10,000 square miles between the Gulf of Kutch and the mouth of the Indus River in southern Pakistan.
In India's summer monsoon, the flat desert of salty clay and mudflats, averaging 15m above sea level, fill with standing waters, interspersed with sandy islets of thorny scrub, breeding grounds for some of the largest flocks of Greater and Lesser Flamingoes.
The area was a vast shallows of the Arabian Sea until continuing geological uplift closed off the connection with the sea, creating a vast lake that was still navigable during the time of Alexander the Great [1] (http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/im/im0901_full.html).
This inhospitable salty lowland, rich in natural gas and a resting site for migratory Siberian birds, is part of India and Pakistan's ongoing border dispute concerning Sir Creek. In April 1965, a dispute there contributed to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, when fighting broke out between India and Pakistan. Later the same year, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson successfully persuaded both countries to end hostilities and set up a tribunal to resolve the dispute. The verdict saw Pakistan gaining square miles (900 km^2) of the Rann of Kutch. Further border disputes broke out in 1971.
The Rann as its called is also famous for the Indian Wild Ass sanctuary, the Little Rann of Kutch, where the last of three species of wild asses (Equus hemionus khur orkhar), the only ones in Asia, still exists along with wolves, foxes, jackals, chinkara gazelles, nilgai antelope and blackbucks.
See also
External links
- World Wildlife Fund: (http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/im/im0901_full.html) Terrestrial Ecoregions: Rann of Kutch
- Satellite views comparing summer and winter conditions in the Rann of Kutch (http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11750)
- Little Rann of Kutch National Park (http://gorp.away.com/gorp/location/asia/india/np_rann.htm)