Stronghold of three large cat predators -- the lion, leopard and tiger. Home to some of India's most magnificent grasslands and sanctuary for a most charismatic bird, the great Indian bustard. This is the Semi-arid Zone, a transition from true desert to semidesert, scrub and stunted forests spread over low mountain ranges. East of the Indian desert and west of the Gangetic Plain, the Semi-arid Zone encompasses a total area of 508,000 sq. km. Included are the extreme southern portions of Jammu and Kashmir, a narrow belt of lower Himachal Pradesh, the states of Punjab and Haryana, Rajasthan -- west of the desert, Gujarat -- west of the Great Rann and the western parts of Madhya Pradesh.

Covering nearly 15 per cent of India's area, this agricultural belt (Punjab and Haryana) has thus far been considered the granary of India. Poor land management and short term political objectives have, however, virtually destroyed the ecology of the region already. Additionally, a sizeable chunk of India's 400 million strong livestock are to be found here, a factor leading to the demise of vast grasslands. Deforestation has had a particularly harsh repercussion on the quality of life of humans living in this zone. In many parts of Gujarat for instance water, which was always precious but never so scarce, has become almost impossible to come by as water tables have fallen and traditional storages such as tanks and takes quickly run dry. Excess siltation has also filled most of the dam reservoirs and unless the State takes to natural regeneration and selective reforestation as a means to restore the vegetal cover, much of Gujarat is likely to face increased desertification in the years to come.

Biology of the Semi-arid Zone

The northern region of this zone houses the flat, alluvial deposits of the Indus river drainage system. Intensely irrigated and cultivated, this northern stretch, known as the Punjab Plains, includes Haryana and Punjab, the southern margins of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh or what are the westemmost parts of the bhabar and the Shivalik mountains. The outskirts of Delhi as also the western end of Uttar Pradesh and a part of the Bharatpur district in Rajasthan fall within the Punjab Plains belt. The region comprises predominantly cultivated flatlands, interspersed with a network of wetlands -- marshes and rivers.

The extreme north of the Semi-arid Zone in the Punjab Plains area is characterised by the rocky, broken, Shivaliks. The human population in this region is dense, increasing the pressures on the habitat tremendously. Understandably there is a paucity of adequately protected areas. The most famous wildlife area here is the Keoladeo Ghana Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur. Harike in Punjab and Sultanpur in Haryana are other well-known wetland reserves of the region.

In marked contrast to the northern parts of the Semi-arid Zone, the southern expanse is less cultivated and has a fairly good number of Sanctuaries and National Parks. This half includes all of Rajasthan east of the desert (excluding parts of Bharatpur), northwestern Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat (including the Kathiawar peninsula but not the two Ranns) up to the Tapti river, the southernmost extent of the Semi-arid Zone. The Aravalli and the Vindhya mountain ranges dominate the central portions of this zone, while the black-cotton Kathiawar peninsula of Gujarat characterises the southern sprawl. An interesting feature of the zone is the heavy rainfall region of Mount Abu in the southern Aravallis. Here several plant and animal species bear close affinity to the Western Ghats. Biologically, the Semi-arid Zone has certain close resemblances to parts of western Asia and northern Africa. Plants such as those of the genus Acacia, Anogeissus, Balanites, Capparis, Grewia and several others clearly have African affinities. On the slopes of the Aravallis and associated broken mountain ranges, there are pure stands of Anogeissus pendula forest, almost restricted to this area. What is however, very interesting is the high density of wildlife (mainly ungulates) in the protected areas here, where livestock grazing and other adverse impacts have been controlled. The herbivores in this area include nilgai, blackbuck, chowsingha or four horned antelope, chinkara or Indian gazelle, sambar and spotted deer, the last two being more or less restricted to the forested mountain ranges and valleys.

With such a rich and healthy population of herbivores, it is hardly surprising that the Semi-arid Zone boasts of a good population and variety of predators. In fact, it is the only zone that harbours the three large cats of India -- the tiger, leopard and the Asiatic Lion. A fourth, the cheetah, is now extinct in India, but was formerly found here as well. Other predators include the wolf, caracal and the jackal, all of which have close relatives in Africa. Two of the finest tiger reserves - Ranthambore and Sariska -- are located in the Aravallis. Amongst the richest of Indian wildlife areas, these two wilderness areas are true show-pieces of Indian wildlife. On the whole, it can be stated that while the Semi-arid Zone does not exhibit any great endemism, it nevertheless holds viable populations of several species of conservation criticality today. Besides those mentioned above, others include the sloth bear, Lesser Florican, the Great Indian Bustard, mugger, gharial, several turtles and also waterfowl, both resident and migratory.

Conservation status

The Punjab Plains cover 107,600 sq. km.; just over 20 per cent of the Semi-arid Zone. Being intensively irrigated, the Punjab Plains have a very low percentage of protected areas, indeed one of India's lowest. The wildlife here is restricted to just over a dozen scattered protected areas, totalling barely 500 sq. km.

Only one of these (in Bharatpur) is a National Park. Moreover, there are hardly any sites worth being proposed for protection, so heavy has been the human pressure on the land here. None of the principal predators, save for jackals and an occasional panther, exist in the Punjab Plains any longer. The Great Indian Bustard and the Lesser Florican too are not found in this region today. Falling in the command area of the Bhakra Nangal project, the lands, after tasting the first flush of the Green Revolution, are currently in a state of critical degradation thanks to waterlogging and salinity.

Intensive fertiliser and pesticide use has polluted several ground water reservoirs and in the coming years post facto analyses, in light of the Punjab Plains experience, will probably drive the final nail in the coffin of the Green Revolution myth which capitalises on short term gains at the cost of long term sustainability and health.

Tragically, some politicians, scientists and bureaucrats, who have not yet seen the writing on the wall, are trying to perpetuate the Green Revolution myth by introducing ideas which have already failed in Punjab and Haryana to the state of Gujarat, through the Narmada Project. Essentially this involves the submergence of some of the most fertile forests and fields falling in the Deccan Peninsula and transferring the waters of one of its most vital rivers, the Narmada, to the poorly drained lands of the Semi-arid Zone of Gujarat. Waterlogging and soil salinity of Gujarat's black cotton soils, which is incapable of tolerating massive doses of irrigation, is a foregone conclusion. A debacle in Gujarat's efforts towards sustainability is sure to follow, a decade or two later, but short-term political gains seem to justify such a terrible price, in the eyes of those in power.

South of the Punjab Plains, as we have seen, the extent of wilderness protection is marginally better. In an expanse of slightly over 406,000 sq. km., there are 41 protected areas spread over an area of 11,368 sq. km., accounting for nearly three per cent of the total area. Four of these are National Parks while the rest are Sanctuaries. The average size of protected areas in this part of the Semi-arid Zone is roughly 285 sq. km. and at least 10 of these are connected through corridors. However, inspite of a good average size and a good number of protected areas, the region is pressurised by the large numbers of villages and their livestock populations. Unlike rain forests, which can regenerate partially degraded lands quickly, the Semi-arid Zone is very vulnerable to faulty management practices and will take much longer to recover from the after-effects of inappropriate technologies. Yet, nature has gifted the people living in this region with amazing natural resources. Given ecological understanding and long-term perspectives, the area could once again flower and nurture the Indian people.