IT IS a January afternoon, but it feels like peak summer. A mild breeze makes up for the shards of winter, caressing the face as the eyes narrow under the glare of the sun. Birds chirp in the trees, and as far as the eye can see, there is nothing but a few hundred camels happily grazing away on the thorny bushes in the Degrai oran, a sacred grove, in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The windmills, visible at a distance, tower over everything else in the vicinity.
“This is the largest and one of the last orans in the area,” says Masinga Ram, a camel handler from Sanwata village, adjoining the oran. For centuries, the trees in the oran, spread over 60,000 bighas (approximately 100 sq km), have remained untouched by the people in the villages. “It is more than 600 years old and was declared a protected area by ruler Vikramdev in the 15 th century. Felling of trees is forbidden in the area. We just collect the dead branches on the ground and pluck ripened fruits for ourselves, the rest is all for the animals and birds,” says Shivdan Singh Bhati, a farmer and a member of the Degrai Mata Trust, which looks after the temple inside the oran. It is in the middle of a 13,000 sq km wide biodiversity-rich land that is among the last natural habitats of Rajasthan's state bird, the great Indian bustard (gib), listed under the “critically endangered” category by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2011 (see 'Net loss', p46).
An open stretch of land with long hours of sunlight, high-speed winds and large plains, the area has become a hub of green energy. Windmills and solar plants are a part of the landscape. More solar plants and transmission towers are under construction.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 01, 2022-Ausgabe von Down To Earth.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 01, 2022-Ausgabe von Down To Earth.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
In leading role again
MOVIES AND WEB SERIES ARE ONCE AGAIN BEING SET IN RUSTIC BACKGROUNDS, INDICATING A RECONNECT BETWEEN CINEMA AND THE COUNTRYSIDE
One Nation One Subscription comes at a huge cost
As top US universities scrap big deals with top scientific publishers, India’s ONOS scheme seems flawed and outdated
Return of Rambhog
Bid to revive and sell the aromatic indigenous paddy variety has led to substantial profits for farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Terai region
Scarred by mining
Natural springs of Kashmir drying up due to illegal riverbed mining
Human-to-human spread a mutation away
CANADA IN mid-November confirmed its first human case of avian influenza, with a teenager in the British Columbia being hospitalised after contracting the H5N1 virus that causes the disease. The patient developed a severe form of the disease, also called bird flu, and had respiratory issues. There was no known cause of transmission.
True rehabilitation
Residents of Madhya Pradesh's Kakdi village take relocation as an opportunity to undertake afforestation, develop sustainable practices
INESCAPABLE THREAT
Chemical pollution is the most underrated and underreported risk of the 21st century that threatens all species and regions
THAT NIGHT, 40 YEARS AGO
Bhopal gas disaster is a tragedy that people continue to face
A JOKE, INDEED
A CONFERENCE OF IRRESPONSIBLE PARTIES THAT CREATED AN OPTICAL ILLUSION TO THE REALITY OF A NEW CLIMATE
THINGS FALL APART
THE WORLD HAS MADE PROGRESS IN MITIGATING EMISSIONS AND ADAPTING TO CLIMATE IMPACTS. BUT THE PROGRESS REMAINS GROSSLY INADEQUATE