SHIFTING SANDS

CHAMBAL SANCTUARY

- Rahul Noronha

The Madhya Pradesh government has adopted a peculiar approach to the economics versus ecology debate in the context of the National Chambal Sanctuary. Conceding that illegal sand mining has been happening in parts of the riverine sanctuary, the government believes that denotifying certain sections to enable the mining to be done legally would help in protecting the rest of the sanctuary. Located at a trijunction of three states-MP, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh-the 435-km-long sanctuary extends 1 km each on both sides from the midpoint of the river Chambal and covers an area of 5,400 sq. km. It is a special ecological niche, being home to a variety of rare aquatic fauna such as the Ganges riverine dolphin, the red-crowned roof turtle and the gharial, besides a large number of migratory birds that visit in winter. The sanctuary, with one of the most pristine major rivers of north India as its beating heart, was first notified in 1978 on the MP side, with UP and Rajasthan following up.

LAST OF THE SKIMMERS? The Chambal is a key nesting site for the endangered Indian Skimmer (6,000 left)

That history turned a bit in December 2021, when the MP government moved a proposal to denotify 292 hectares (2.92 sq. km) of the sanctuary at five sites in the state-two each in Morena and Sheopur districts and one in Bhind.