Thar Desert

The Thar Desert (Urdu: صحراء تھر), also known as the Great Indian Desert, is a desert located in western India and southeastern Pakistan. It lies mostly in the Indian state of Rajasthan, and extends into the southern portion of Haryana and Punjab states and into northern Gujarat state. In Pakistan, the desert covers eastern Sind province and the southeastern portion of Pakistan's Punjab province. In Pakistan's Punjab province it is known as the Cholistan Desert. The Thar Desert is bounded on the northwest by the Sutlej River, on the east by the Aravalli Range, on the south by the salt marsh known as the Rann of Kutch (parts of which are sometimes included in the Thar), and on the west by the Indus River. Its boundary to the large thorny steppe to the north is ill-defined. Depending on what areas are included or excluded, the nominal size of the Thar can vary significantly.

According to the WWF definition, the desert proper has 92,200 square miles (238,700 km²). Another source gives the area of the Thar Desert as 446,000 km² extending 805 km (about 500 mi) long and about 485 km (about 300 mi) wide, with 208,110 square kilometres in India. Of the Indian portion, 61% falls in Rajasthan, 20% in Gujarat and 9% in Punjab and Haryana combined. The greater portion lies in Rajasthan, covering about three-fifths of the total geographical area.

Origin of the Thar Desert

The origin of the Thar Desert is a controversial subject. Some consider it to be 4000 to 10,000 years old, whereas others state that aridity started in this region much earlier. Another theory states that area turned to desert relatively recently: perhaps around 2000 - 1500 BCE. Around this time the Ghaggar ceased to be a major river. It now terminates in the desert. It has been observed through remote sensing techniques that Late Quaternary climatic changes and neotectonics have played a significant role in modifying the drainage courses in this part and a large number of palaeochannels exist.

Most of the studies share the opinion that the palaeochannels of the Sarasvati coincide with the bed of present day Ghaggar and believe that the Sutlej along with the Yamuna once flowed into the present Ghaggar riverbed. It has been postulated that the Sutlej was the main tributary of the Ghaggar and that subsequently the tectonic movements might have forced the Sutlej westwards, the Yamuna eastwards and thus dried up the Ghaggar.

Physiography and geology

There are three principal landforms in the desert region i.e.

The predominantly sand covered Thar
Plains with hills including the central dune free country
Hills

It is a desolate country where sand is piled up into huge wind blown dunes (technically this is known as an erg). The sand dunes are of three types viz., longitudinal parabolic, transverse and barchans. The first type, running NNE-SSW, i.e. parallel to the prevailing winds, occurs to the south and west of the Thar. The transverse dunes, aligned across the wind direction, to the east and north of Thar and barchans, with the conclave sides facing the wind in the interior, predominant in Central Thar. On the whole the Thar Desert slopes imperceptibly towards the Indus Plain and surface unevenness is mainly due to sand dunes. The dunes in the south are higher, rising sometimes to 152 m whereas in the north they are lower and rise to 16 m above the ground level.

The Aravalli ranges form the main landmark to the south-east of Thar Desert. The more humid conditions that prevail near the Aravallis prevent the extension of Thar Desert towards the east and the Ganges Valley. In the heart of the sand covered area, the bare, dune free country of Barmer, Jaisalmer and Bikaner present an anomaly.Pale sands of Sanghar

A "different kind" of desert, there are even lakes amidst dunes

By Salman Rashid

I first went wandering about Thar Desert back in 1980. I had seen bits of the Thal Desert in Punjab some years before that and both deserts disappointed me. There were no real wind-sculpted sand dunes like I had seen in pictures of the Sahara, Gobi or Takla Makan deserts. As time went by, I got to know Thar much better. This included what was in those days called the Tharparkar district in the south and Khairpur in the north of Sindh. The one blank on my map was the desert part of Sanghar district. This tantalised because someone told me that the eastern-most part of the district that trod on the Indian border had a "different kind" of desert.

About that same time (1980) I read a rather drab little report in Dawn about the desert lakes of Sanghar and made a mental note that this was something to see, a lazim. But years went by, twenty-four years in fact, before I actually got to see one of those fabled lakes. It was in the summer of 2004 and working on an assignment for a Hyderabad-based NGO, I was being driven into the desert when I asked about the lakes.

"What lake?" my friend asked with a lop-sided smile. "How can there be lakes in the desert?"

Then, barely half an hour out of the little village of Hathungo (near Khipro in Sanghar district), just as we went around a sand dune, we came in full view of a blue, blue sheet of water. It was unbelievable. From Cholistan in Punjab I knew of the ponds they called tobas that, being filled up after the rains, were used as reservoirs for the drier months by both man and beast. But I had never seen such a lake smack in the midst of sand dunes. The scene was replete with a few sheep grazing nearby and a village with those circular huts and pointed wattle roofs that typify Thari villages.

I asked my friend if the desert where we were heading was also of a different quality. Once again he joked about without coming to the point. And sure enough, as we neared our destination, this being village Rablahu, the quality of the dunes did indeed take on the same texture as I had seen in pictures of the Sahara. Only while the latter has reddish sand, this was rather pale. "It's not for nothing that we call this part of our Thar 'Achhro' or white," my friend explained.

The month was June and we had arrived shortly after midday. With the sun blazing directly overhead burning out every colour to half tones, I did not even bother to take any photographs - not even for the record. But I resolved to return to Achhro Thar at some more appropriate time of year. And so it was that my friend Pervez Akhtar and I were picked up from Karachi by Abubaker, the Sheikh of Badin, as I once used to call him. Himself a writer of travel tales, Abubaker now works for an NGO in Karachi and when work takes him travelling he produces yet more travelogues for the Sindhi press. For this outing Abubaker had brought his friend Majeed Mangrio along.

Overnight in Khipro, it was learned that the fancy pick-up truck Abubaker had brought was without a four-wheel drive. That was that, I thought. The White Desert would not be seen on this outing. But the following morning we drove out to Hathungo and after wasting some time about the village, hired a beat up old Suzuki jeep which was refitted with a noisy diesel engine. The young driver was a gabby smart-alec who seemed to know everything about everything. He made it a point to add his own two bits worth to whatever was said in the jeep.

Just outside Hathungo, we paused at the large lake I had seen in the summer of 2004. A solitary boatman was paddling about in the far distance hauling in his nets with the fish. On the near side a herd of cows browsed in the sparse vegetation and directly across them sat a little village amid rolling sand dunes and acacia and neem trees. In my memory from two years ago, this village comprised entirely of mud-and-wattle huts, the chaunras, with their pointed roofs. That was perhaps how I had wanted to see it and adjusted the mental image accordingly for now I saw that there were few chaunras. Most had trabeate roofs while one or two houses were washed a brilliant white to contrast against the sand and the blue sky.

The next stop was a salt lake that was called Pani Wari Dhund - water lake. I observed that was a silly name for all lakes are by necessity water or they wouldn't be lakes at all. Abubaker thought the reason for the name was probably that this one was miles from any other body of water. And being in the desert where little water was at hand, some poetic Thari of yore gave it that name. Salt lay in glittering white islands on the lake and in equally dazzling piles along the southern shore of the lake. A team of labourers was trundling salt-laden wheelbarrows from the little islands to large piles on the shore.

I wanted to know if this salt was put to industrial or domestic use but without smart-alec putting words in the mouths of the labourers failed to learn anything at all. He had to be told, in no uncertain terms, to shut up when he was not being addressed. That had good effect, I must concede.

In lower Thar, one is rarely far from some signs of human habitation. But here, we were travelling in an utterly lonely country. Even the ravens, vultures and mynas that one meets with in other parts of the desert were missing and the only bird I saw was the Indian grey shrike. Surely the sparse vegetation concealed some of the smaller ones.

About two hours out of Hathungo, we passed by the village of Rablahu that I had visited back in 2004. I asked the driver to swing in so that we could do some photos. But Majeed said these being all Hindus were averse to being photographed. In this part of Thar, for some curious reason, its not the Muslims but the Hindus who go totally paranoid when they see a camera. Even as Pervez and I photographed the village from what we thought was a safe distance, I espied a man hurrying in our direction. He caught up with us before we finished and Majeed ended up doing a song and dance.

Abubaker said if we had been in his pick-up truck, the man would never have bothered for he would have known us to be important people. But this lousy Suzuki gave us away as nothing more than bumbling boys from some college or the other. Boys indeed: middle-aged, bald and out of shape. It's what you ride in, he insisted and promised that the four-wheel drive will be fixed and the next time we come out to Achhro Thar it will be as important personages.

Another half an hour later, driving over some dramatic looking dunes we saw the houses of Ranahu in the distance. This is where we were heading. Some years ago Majeed had worked in this village and was well-connected. He said the hospital had "four rooms with attached baths" and because there were few in patients and also because he was good friends with Anop Singh, the medical technician who was in charge, we could stay there. This was for the future because this time around we were out for just the day.

Ranahu is a village of Sodha Rajputs and Anop who belongs to the village is of the same clan. Long ago, in 325 CBE, when Alexander was in the vicinity of what we now call Rahim Yar Khan, he met with a warlike tribe that his historians called the Sogdii. Now, the people of Sogdiana in Central Asia were also known to the Greeks by this same name and one could not be faulted for wondering what a Central Asiatic tribe was doing in south Punjab. Scholars, however, told us that the Punjabi Sogdii were in fact Sodhas.

Throughout the long and creative course of history we hear of this powerful tribe ruling in various parts of southern Punjab and Sindh. The last we hear of them in our part of the subcontinent is from the early years of the 19th century. The Talpurs, having taken over the reins of government from the Kalhoras, began to extend their sway and on the western edge of the Thar Desert near Naukot came upon them. The Sodhas were evidently on the wane for the Talpurs prevailed and that was the end of the rule of the former.

From being kings over the land of Sindh, the Sodhas are today reduced to isolated pockets in the desert where they assert their past power by telling strangers not to photograph their village, leave alone the women. But here we were not strangers for Majeed knew practically everyone in the village.

After the customary tea and biscuits we took off for the village well. In lower Thar, as the men drive the camels to pull out the bucket from the deep wells, there are always several women at hand to fill up their pitchers. In some isolated villages I had even seen women running the whole show. But here this chore was taken over entirely by men and young boys. Indeed, in the day we spent at Ranahu, I did not so much as catch a glimpse of any woman at all. Not even a girl child. The Sodhas do observe strict purdah.

It was the dunes of Achhro Thar that had brought us out this far and so we took a walk to the east side of the village. Here, swept by the wind into sculpted, rippled shapes with razor-sharp crests the dunes rolled away in all directions just the way one sees them in photos of the Takla Makan. As we hurried with our photos, Pervez the best photographer among us lamented that we were not staying overnight to catch the evening and early morning sun.

We left Ranahu in time to catch the sunset with some trees in the foreground. Later, as we were driving back to Hathungo, Abubaker kept muttering, "Something's got to give. Something must go wrong now for how else can we call this an adventure." Then there began his tales of breakdowns in the desert that set me virtually on edge. I too had tales to tell, but I refrained superstitiously fearing that too many disaster stories would somehow bring something untoward upon us. Abubaker's prayers were answered. Suddenly something began rattling under the jeep.

We stopped; the driver got under and told us a road spring had snapped. But not to worry, he said, and he would bring us into Hathungo all right. Shortly afterwards as the jeep was negotiating a dune, it got stuck. We got out and discovered that the rear wheels were digging in, which meant the four-wheel drive was not working anymore. Once again smart-alec got under and announced that the rear axle was broken. Hathungo was still thirty kilometres away!

He fiddled about a bit and said he would drive with the front wheels and that we would have to push every time we negotiated a slope. I don't know how it was done, but we did carry on. At some point he said we ought to stop by a village and he would change the axle. This, he said, would take thirty minutes which I read as two hours. The axle evidently was something he carried around in his breast pocket. The common vote however was that instead of wasting time we take the risk and try to reach Hathungo.

And so we carried on with Abubaker still nattering on about the accident not having been drastic enough to make an adventure. When the lights of Hathungo were seen for the first time, I said to Abubaker now was the time for the jeep to fall to pieces for all I cared and we could still walk to our pick-up truck waiting in the village.

Desert soils

The soils of the Arid Zone are generally sandy to sandy-loam in texture. The consistency and depth vary according to the topographical features. The low-lying loams are heavier and may have a hard pan of clay, calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) or gypsum. The pH varies between 7 and 9.5. The soils improve in fertility from west and northwest to east and northeast. Desert soils are Regosols of wind blown sand and sandy fluiratile deposits, derived from the disintegration of rock in the subjacent areas and blown in from the coastal region and the Indus Valley. The desert soils occupy the districts of Jodhpur, Bikaner, Churu, Ganganagar, Barmer, Jaisalmer, and Jalore. The Thar consists mainly of the wind-blown sand. The area is covered not only by sheet of sand but also of rocky projections of low elevations which constitute the older rocks of the country. Water is scarce and occurs at great depths, from 30 to 120 m below the ground level.

Some of these soils contain a high percentage of soluble salts in the lower horizons, turning water in the wells poisonous. Being poor in organic matter they show a low loss on ignition. They contain varying amount of calcium carbonate.

Biodiversity

Stretches of sand in the desert are interspersed by hillocks and sandy and gravel plains. Due to the diversified habitat, the vegetation and animal life in this arid region is very rich. About 23 species of lizard and 25 species of snakes are found here and several of them are endemic to the region.

Some wildlife species, which are fast vanishing in other parts of India, are found in the desert in large numbers such as the Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps), the Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), the Indian Gazelle (Gazella bennettii) and the Indian Wild Ass (Equus hemionus khur) in the Rann of Kutch. How these animals and insects survive in these harsh conditions, under such high temperature and without drinking water and green vegetation are amazing. They have evolved excellent survival strategies, their size is smaller than other similar animals living in different conditions, and they are mainly nocturnal. There are certain other factors responsible for the survival of these animals in the desert. Due to the lack of water in this region, transformation of the grasslands into cropland has been very slow. The protection provided to them by a local community, the Bishnois, is also a factor.

The Desert National Park, Jaisalmer, spread over an area of 3162 km², is an excellent example of the ecosystem of the Thar Desert, and its diverse fauna. Great Indian Bustard, Blackbuck, chinkara, desert fox, Bengal fox, wolf, desert cat etc. can be easily seen here. Seashells and massive fossilized tree trunks in this park record the geological history of the desert. The region is a haven for migratory and resident birds of the desert. One can see many eagles, harriers, falcons, buzzards, kestrel and vultures. Short-toed Eagles (Circaetus gallicus), Tawny Eagles (Aquila rapax), Spotted Eagles (Aquila clanga), Laggar Falcons (Falco jugger) and kestrels are the commonest of these.

Tal Chhapar Sanctuary is a very small sanctuary in Churu District, 210 km from Jaipur, in the Shekhawati region. This sanctuary is home to a large population of graceful Blackbuck. Desert Fox and desert cat can also be spotted along with typical avifauna such as partridge and sand grouse.

Natural vegetation

The natural vegetation is classed as Northern Desert Thorn Forest (Champion 1936). These occur in small clumps scattered in a more or less open forms. Density and size of patches increase from West to East following the increase in rainfall. Natural vegetation of Thar Desert is composed of following tree, shrub and herb species.

Tree species

Acacia leucophloea, Acacia senegal, Anogeissus rotundifolia, Prosopis cineraria, Salvadora oleodes, Tecomella undulata

Small trees and shrubs

Calligonum polygonoides, Acacia jacquemontii, Balanites roxburghii, Ziziphus nummularia, Calotropis procera, Suaeda fruticosa, Crotolaria burhia, Aerva tomentosa, Clerodendrum multiflrum, Leptadenia pyrotechnica, Lycium barbarum, Grewia populifolia, Commiphora mukul, Euphorbia nerifolia, Cordia rothii, Maytenus emorginata

Herbs

Eleusine compressa, Dactyloctenium scindicum, Cenchrus biflorus, Cenchrus setigerus, Lasiurus hirsutus, Cynodon dactylon, Panicum turgidum, Panicum antidotale, Dichanthium annulatum, Sporobolus marginatus, Saccharum spontaneum, Cenchrus ciliaris, Desmostachya bipinnata, Cyperus arenarius, Erogrostis species, Ergamopagan species, Phragmitis species, Typha species

Greening desert and checking shifting sand dunes

The soil of the Thar Desert remains dry for a longer period in the year and is therefore most prone to wind erosion. Due to the high velocity of winds in these areas the dust is blown off with it and deposited on fertile lands causing a problem of shifting sand dunes. The movement of the shifting sand buries fences and blocks roads and railway tracks. Permanent solution to this problem of shifting sand dunes can be provided by fixation of the shifting sand dunes with suitable plant species and planting windbreaks and shelterbelts. They also provide protection from hot or cold and desiccating winds and the invasion of sand.

The local tree species for planting in the desert region are not many and they are also very slow growing. The introduction of exotic tree species in the desert for plantation has become necessary. Many species of Eucalyptus, Acacia, Cassia and other genera have been tried from Israel, Australia, USA, Russia, Southern Rhodesia, Chile, Peru, Sudan etc. in Thar Desert Acacia tortilis has proved to be the most promising species for desert afforestation and has helped in checking the spread of desert soils to other areas and fixing of sand dunes. The jojoba is one other promising species of economic value found suitable for planting in these areas.

The Rajasthan Canal system is the major irrigation scheme of the Thar Desert and is conceived to reclaim it and also to check spreading of the desert to fertile areas.

People

The main occupation of the people in desert is agriculture and animal husbandry. In past years there has been a tremendous increase in human population as well as animal population. This has led to improper control of grazing and extensive cultivation resulting into the deterioration of vegetation resources. The increase of human and livestock population in the desert has lead to deterioration in the ecosystem resulting in degradation of soil fertility. The living standard of the people in the desert is low.

Jodhpur, the largest city in the region, lies in the scrub forest zone. Bikaner and Jaisalmer are located in the desert proper.

A large irrigation and power project has reclaimed areas of the northern and western desert for agriculture. The small population is mostly pastoral, and hide and wool industries are prominent.

The Indian Desert is mainly inhabited by Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. The portion in Pakistan is inhabited by primarily by Sindhis and Kolhis. There are around 60% Muslims and 40% Hindus in the Pakistani part of the Thar Desert. A colorful culture rich in tradition prevails in the desert. The people have a great passion for music and poetry.

References

Govt. of India. Ministry of Food & Agriculture booklet (1965)- soil conservation in the Rajasthan Desert- Work of the Desert Afforestation Research station, Jodhpur.

Kaul, R.N. (1970). Afforestation in Arid zones (edited): Dr. W. JUNK N.V. Publishers The Hague.

Gupta, R.K. & Prakash Ishwar (1975). Environmental analysis of the Thar Desert. English Book Depot., Dehra Dun.

Kaul, R.N. (1967). Trees or grass lands in the Rajasthan- Old problems and New approaches. Indian Forester, 93: 434-435.
Burdak, L.R. (1982). Recent Advances in Desert Afforestation- Dissertation submitted to Shri R.N. Kaul, Director, Forestry Research, F.R.I., Dehra dun.

Yashpal, Sahai Baldev, Sood, R.K., and Agarwal, D.P. (1980). "Remote sensing of the 'lost' Saraswati river." Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences (Earth and Planet Science), V. 89, No. 3, pp. 317-331.
Bakliwal , P.C. and Sharma, S.B. (1980). "On the migration of the river Yamuna". Journal of the Geological Society of India, Vol. 21, Sept. 1980, pp. 461-463.
Bakliwal, P.C. and Grover, A.K. (1988). "Signature and migration of Sarasvati river in Thar desert, Western India". Record of the Geological Survey of India V 116, Pts. 3-8, pp. 77-86.
Rajawat, A.S., Sastry, C.V.S. and Narain, A. (1999-a). Application of pyramidal processing on high resolution IRS-1C data for tracing the migration of the Saraswati river in parts of the Thar desert. in "Vedic Sarasvati, Evolutionary History of a Lost River of Northwestern India", Memoir Geological Society of India, Bangalore, No. 42, pp. 259-272.
Ramasamy, S.M. (1999). Neotectonic controls on the migration of Sarasvati river of the Great Indian desert. in "Vedic Sarasvati, Evolutionary History of a Lost River of Northwestern India", Memoir Geological Society of India, Bangalore, No. 42, pp. 153-162.
Rajesh Kumar, M., Rajawat, A.S. and Singh, T.N. (2005). Applications of remote sensing for educidate the Palaeochannels in an extended Thar desert, Western Rajasthan, 8th annual International conference, Map India 2005, New Delhi.

haha

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Thar Desert