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 and the
Sind province 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. The
Luni River, which originates in
Rajasthan, empties into the northeast corner of the Rann.
In India's summer
monsoon, the flat desert of salty clay and mudflats, averaging 15 meters 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]. The
Ghaggar River, which presently empties into the desert of northern Rajasthan, formerly emptied into the Rann of Kutch, but the lower reaches of the river dried up as its upstream tributaries were captured by the
Indus and
Ganges thousands of years ago. Traces of the delta and its
distributary channels on the northern boundary of the Rann of Kutch were documented by the
Geological Survey of India in
2000.
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. A verdict was reached in 1968 which saw Pakistan getting 10% of its claim of 3,500 sq. miles. The majority of the area thus remained with India. Tensions spurted again in
1999 during the
Atlantique Incident.
The Rann is also famous for the Indian Wild Ass sanctuary, the Little Rann of Kutch, where the last of three species of
Asiatic Wild Ass (
Equus hemionus khur or
khar), the only ones in Asia, still exists along with
wolves,
foxes,
jackals,
chinkara gazelles,
nilgai antelope and
blackbucks. The Rann of Kutch is also the only place in Pakistan and India which plays host to migrating
flamingoes. There are 13 species of
lark in the Rann of Kutch.
*
Kutch*
Sir CreekEncyclopædia Britannica*
World Wildlife Fund: Terrestrial
Ecoregions: Rann of Kutch
*
Satellite views comparing summer and winter conditions in the Rann of Kutch*
Little Rann of Kutch National Park
