Context
- Recently, a unique yatra was taken out through remote villages and hamlets in western Rajasthan to raise demand for the protection of orans or sacred groves.
About
- The participants in the march travelled for 225 km with the pledge to preserve the sacred groves as the lifelines for the desert.
- Tradition dictates that no tree or plant in the groves is cut and only seasonal grazing of livestock is allowed.
Significance of Orans:
- Named after local deities and medieval warriors, orans hold religious and social significance as small forest patches in the middle of the mighty Thar desert.
- The orans have a rich diversity of traditional flora and fauna and water bodies and are considered sacred and preserved by the locals.
- Orans also form the natural habitat for India’s most critically endangered bird, the Great Indian Bustard (GIB).
Concerns:
- The adverse impact of fast-paced industrialisation and encroachment of pasture land on the trees, wildlife, people’s livelihood and the local ecosystem.
- The orans or sacred groves are facing the threat of destruction with their land being allotted for renewable energy infrastructure and high-tension power lines.
- GIBs have died during the last few years because of collisions with power lines.
- The land was also diverted for agriculture and other projects of the administration.
Way Ahead:
- The oran land’s allotment for setting up solar plants can be stopped if it is recognised as protected land in the gair mumkin category
Source: TH
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