ગુજરાતી
English
Ahmedabad, 7 September 2024
Thanks to BBC Gujarati, Google translation from Gujarati
The only real camel breed in the world that swims in sea water is getting extinct in Gujarat. The reason for this is salt agar and industries. Officials, BJP, industrialists are working to destroy the Cher forests. They are all deliberately killing the real camels together. These are big hunters of camels. Who are earning money by destroying the construction of Gujarat. We all run them by voting and making votes.
Earlier camel fodder was available in an area of four kilometers. Now the Cher forests have reduced, so we have to go nine kilometers away to graze the camels. Now I can’t bear it. Selling camels and starting another business.
Noor Mohammad of Kutch has 25 Kharai camels. Noor Mohammad grazes from a sea island near Mohdi village near Nalia.
Kharai camels stay on such an island for three to four days. These camels spend 3-4 days only on the island near the coast as they get leaves of Cher trees which are the food of these camels. The camels that have gone to the island swim to the shore to drink water and swim to the island to graze. This cycle continues.
This species of saltwater camel is found only in Gujarat in India. But now its existence is in danger as it has to struggle for food.
This impact is directly falling on its owners. Like Noor Mohammad, Jat Hamir Bachchu of Ondh village in Bhachau taluk also rears Kharai camels. He is 29 years old and has a family of 20 members.
Fodder is not available and camels have to go far to graze. Due to this the number of camels is decreasing. There were 112 camels in 2010, now only 45 are left.
When these Kharai camels swim to the island to graze on Cher leaves, the shepherds or camel herders also stay with them. Usually two camel herders go to the island together either by swimming or in a small boat. Also take bread and water with it. One shepherd returns and stays on an island.
The camel herders also have to swim to the islands covered with Cher trees to graze the Kharai camels.
Wherever there were Cher trees on the islands, salt agars have now been established there.
The Forest Department prevents them from grazing in Cher forests and on the other hand, Cher forests are being destroyed due to encroachment by salt industries in some places.
The area covered by Cher trees has increased in Gujarat, but the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) India Index 2023-24 recently released by Niti Aayog proves this claim of the Gujarat Forest Department to be ‘hollow’. The SDG India Index 2023-24 states that Gujarat is the only state in the country where there has been a decline in Cher forests. This reduction has been recorded at 0.17 from the year 2020-21 to the year 2023-24.
Earlier, the Gujarat government was criticized in this matter in the audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year 2022 on ‘Performance of Protection and Management of Marine Environment’.
Environmentalists also allege that Cher forests are being destroyed due to industrialization and encroachment of salt farms.
Cher forests are located in Hadkiya Creek near Simda of Jangi and Wong of Bhachau taluka of Kutch district and Kara Dhola near Simda of Vavaniya, Bagsara and Varshamedi of Malia taluka of Morbi district.
About 850 Kharai camels roam in these forests for food.
The forest department prevents us from taking our camels to graze in the Cher forests. On the other hand, these forests are being cut down. Some people are destroying the Cher lands and building illegal salt pans on them.
There is no fodder available. Earlier, camels could find pasture within a kilometre of the range, but now they sometimes have to go 20 kilometres away. These camels too have to be sold as they are no longer cheap.
Noor Muhammad has 25 camels. Eight years ago, he had 100 camels.
Camels are cheaper to raise than buffaloes. But now there is a problem of fodder. Salt industrialists have built embankments here, due to which sea water does not reach the Cher forests and they dry up. When the land dries up, they occupy it.
Bhikha Rabari, former president of the Kutch Camel Breeders Maldhari Association, says, “The area east of Kandla in the Gulf of Kutch is known as Adivel. This area is home to cher forests. Marine life also thrives here. But here salt traders are intruding into cher forests on the islands without any hindrance.
The destruction of cher forests is most affected by the survival of camels who eat cher leaves.
The organisation has also submitted a written representation to the Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority for the protection of cher forests and Kharai camels.
“70 per cent reduction in the number of Kharai camels”
Kutch has the highest number of cher forests after Sundarbans in West Bengal and Kharai camels reside in these forests.
Swimming in water is the specialty of Kharai camel and this species of camel is found in Kutch, Jamnagar, Morbi, Alia Bet of Bharuch, Bhavnagar and Gulf of Khambhat. It is found near the river.
Kutch has the highest number of Kharai camels. Abdasa, Bhachau, Lakhpat, Kandla-Surajbari, Jakhau-Kori and Mundra have the highest number of camels.
Wildlife Crime Control Bureau volunteer and environmental activist Kanaiyalal Rajgore says, “Hakkadia creek meets the desert and the sea at Surajbari. The area also has water from the Banas, Saraswati, Machhu, Luni and Chandrabhaga rivers. Sedimentation from the rivers has led to the formation of islands in various areas.
Construction has taken place. There is a lot of biodiversity on these islands. The area known as Adivel is made up of several bays and islands.
Work for Kharai camels and their keepers
Activist and environmentalist Rameshbhai Bhati of the organisation ‘Sahjeevani’ says, “In Kutch, we did a survey in 2010 in which we saw that the number of camels with camel keepers had decreased by 70 per cent. This survey was done in collaboration with the Animal Husbandry Department of the Government of Gujarat.
Rameshbhai says, “Today there are about four thousand Kharai camels in Gujarat. In Kutch this number is around 1,800. Cher forests are disappearing due to the pressure of industrialisation and salt farms. This is affecting the camel keepers.” Finding fodder for their camels has become difficult
Jat camel herder Hamir Buch says, “The forest department is now making the excuse that it is planting Cher trees and therefore does not allow the camels to graze.”
Bhikhabhai Rabari has 150 Kharai camels. Jangi village is a rural village. The Cher trees here have been destroyed, due to which the 500 camels of the village have to be taken seven to eight kilometres away for fodder.
Ramesh Bhati says, “In the industrialisation that took place after the 2001 earthquake in Kutch, the government allotted a lot of land to industries, due to which the number of Cher trees also decreased.
Bhikhabhai says, “Male camels are used for carrying loads, so we sell them and camel milk is sold. Now the use of camels is decreasing but since private dairies have started buying camel milk, we have got support in camel rearing. But if there is no fodder, camel rearing will become expensive.
Satellite images of Cher forests near Jangi village in Bhachau taluk of Kutch district were studied. We studied the pictures of the year 1994, 2004, 2014 and 2024 and it was clear that the beach has been encroached.
Analysing the pictures, environmentalist Kanaiyalal Rajgor says, “The white spots that are visible are salt agars. Many of them are illegal. Cher trees have been uprooted here.” The above area is Kutch district. Hadakia is the bay. There is a big village here where many people keep camels and many of them also have Kharai camels. The island in the middle is known as Palwadi island. At one time it was covered with Cher trees but today it is cleared. The same situation is in the Sha Wala and Karna Dhoro area of Morbi district below. According to Ramesh Bhati, the salt marshes in these areas have become such that there is space left for camels to graze, but there is no space left for movement. This problem is more in Jangi village. On the other hand, the Gujarat government says that there has been a significant increase in the area of Cher trees in the state in the last three decades. The government says that the area of Cher in the state has increased to 1,175 square kilometers. The government also claims that Kutch district ranks first in the state with 799 square kilometers of Cher cover. This claim is made by the state forest department itself. Minister Moulu Bera made this statement on July 26 on the occasion of International Day for Conservation of Mangrove Ecosystem.
Salinity is a threat to camel’s survival: CAG
The CAG’s 2022 report said, “Cher trees are a lifeline for the saltwater camel, popularly known as the floating camel, and destruction of cher could pose a threat to its survival.”
The report recommended to the Gujarat government, “This destruction of cher in the forest areas of Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) is not only proving costly to the environment but also threatens the extinction of the only species of saltwater camel that depends on cher trees for food.” To save the Kharai camel from extinction, the state government should take appropriate steps to conserve the Cher.”
It is not that the Kharai camel herders have complained recently. They complained to the GCZMA in February, 2018.
The complaint states, “Cher is being destroyed on a large scale by the lease holders of Mithna Agal in Chhota Chirai and Bada Chirai areas of Bhachau taluka of Kutch.”
The camel herders filed an appeal in the National Green Commission (NGT).
The NGT directed the Gujarat government to restore the Kursi within six months. Apart from this, the Forest Department, Revenue Department and GCZMA were also ordered to remove the obstacles and take action against the culprits and recover the cost from them. The Gujarat Marine Area Management Board formed a committee in this matter.
The committee did not work to find out the management and spread of illegal constructions and unauthorized salt agars.
The Niti Aayog report also said that “Gujarat is the only state among the coastal states of the country where there has been a decline in Cher forests.”
When BBC Gujarati asked Minister of State for Forest and Environment Mukesh Patel about this report of CAG and Niti Ayog, he said, “We are working on our mistakes. A lot of Cher trees have been planted.”
“We have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for plantation of Cher trees under the ‘Mangroves Initiative for Shoreline Habitat and Tangible Income’ i.e. Mishti Yojana at the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Summit.”
However, environmentalists believe that the ground reality in this matter is somewhat different.
Environmentalist Mahesh Pandya says, “The criticism of the CAG report, the way the decline in Cher forests was recorded in the Niti Ayog report, shows the discrepancy between government claims and reality.”
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Jaipal Singh said
“There is a difference of only two square kilometres in the figures. Actually, during that time, two cyclones hit Gujarat, which caused damage to Cher. Now the efforts we have made will bear fruit in the next three-four years.” This is what minister Mukesh Patel says. “The government is committed to saving the Kharai camel species and Cher.” Where there were forests of Cher in Kutch, Morbi, trees have been cleared today. We asked Sanjeev Kumar, Principal Secretary of Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, about the complaints of camel herders. He did not give a detailed answer but said that his department has a special system to investigate all complaints under which he works on it. Talking to Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Jaipal Singh, he said, “We have removed the pressure in about 400 hectares of Kandla Port Trust area. It was an area of notified forest from which 300 hectares of Cher was destroyed where we have replanted Cher trees. There is an issue of ownership. The Forest and Coastal Management Authority do not have enough staff to monitor such a large area, if all the agencies come together then the problem can be completely solved.”
Actually these are three types of areas. One is Forest Notified Area, second is Coastal Zone Management Authority and third is Revenue Department. Even if seen in this way, there is a discrepancy in the responsibility of the agencies in this matter.
Kutch Collector Amit Arora said, “A complaint has been received, but it seems that this pressure has happened in Kandla Port Trust. However, we will take action on this matter in collaboration with Coastal Management Authority and Forest Department. We have done it before and we will do it now also.”
When Kandla Port Trust Public Relations Officer Omprakash Dadlani was asked whether such pressure has been put on your land? So he said that “Kandla Port Trust has a special system to monitor illegal pressures. Nothing like this has come to our notice.”
When we asked, the collector himself said so. So his answer was that “in the present situation there is no illegal occupation on our land.”
The Gujarat government claims that it has planted Cher trees on hundreds of hectares of land
On the other hand, there are complaints of camel herders in Morbi too. We also spoke to Morbi Collector K.B. Javeri. He just said that ‘I can talk on this subject after seeing the details.’
Kutch Chief Forest Conservator Sandeep Kumar said, “There is no pressure in the forest area. We are not allowing anyone to enter. Last year we planted Cher in 7 thousand hectares. This year afforestation will be done in 12 thousand hectares and next year our target is to plant 14 thousand Cher trees per hectare.”
We also spoke to A.P. Singh, Member Secretary of Gujarat Ecology Commission. However, he is not ready to accept that the number of Cher trees is decreasing in Gujarat.
Reacting to the complaints of encroachment in Cher forests, he said, “We are not the conservators of the marine area or the Revenue Department. We are not aware of any encroachment there.”
Ramesh Bhati says, “There is pressure in the forest reserve area and revenue area as well. In some areas where there were cher trees ten years ago, salt marshes are found today. Development is not a priority for them.”
Mahesh Pandya says, “Cher forests prevent sea salinity. The muddy sea floor supports many ecosystems including fish, crabs and turtles. These forests help prevent coastal erosion. These forests protect against disasters like cyclones and tsunamis.” Thanks to BBC. (Google translation from Gujarati)
