The indian desert

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1. THE INDIAN DESERT

2. LOCATION: The Great Indian Desert lies to the South-west of the fertile Northern Plain or the Gangetic Plain. It is also called the Thar Desert. The Aravali Hills divide Rajasthan into two parts. The Western part of Rajasthan is the Great Indian Desert. Its soil is composed of sand, hard rocks and sand dunes

3. PHYSICAL FEATURES: The  Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, encompasses 77,000 square miles of rolling sand dunes in eastern  Pakistan  and the northwestern  Indian  state of Rajasthan. Small portions of the desert also extend into the Indian states of Haryana, Punjab, and Gujarat, but these states do not exercise extensive control over the region. The Thar Desert's name derives from the word  t'hul ,  the general term for the region's sand ridges. It is defined by a series of natural borders, including the Aravalli Mountain Range to the southeast and the Punjab plain in the north and northeast. To the west, lies the Indus plain, and to the south, the Rann of Kutch. The geographic isolation of the Thar Desert by mountain ranges and plains contributes significantly to the weather patterns that shape its distinctive, hot, dry environment. The environment around the Thar effectively absorbs all the  rain  that is carried in the monsoon clouds before the clouds can reach the desert. The resulting monsoon winds in the desert are hot and dry, and the desert does not share in the wet season experienced in surrounding terrains.

4. Drainage: Inland drainage in India is found only in the arid and semi-arid north-western India, particularly in the deserts of Rajasthan. Inland drainage means a drainage system in which rivers do not reach an ocean but empty their waters into a lake or an inland sea. There are several salt lakes in this part of the country. They are fed by short, intermittent streams, which experience flash floods during rains and dry once the rain is over. Over two-third of the surface water of India drains into the Bay of Bengal About 20 percent of the surface water drains into the Arabian Sea, less than 10% form part of the inland drainage of Rajasthan desert and Aksai Chin of Jammu and Kashmir. Part of it belongs to the Indus basin and the rest to the peninsular rivers. Nearly one percent drains into the Andaman Sea through the tributaries of the Irrawaddy in Myanmar.

5. Climate: The Thar Desert or the Great Indian Desert has an extreme type of climate. In summer it is very hot in the day while the nights are cooler. In winter the days are warmer and the nights are very chilly. It is because the sand gets heated up fast in the day and cools down quickly at night. The desert is almost dry. It receives very little rainfall. Sometimes it does not rain for years together. It is because the rain laden monsoon winds coming from the Arabian Sea pass over this desert unchecked. There are no high hills which may force the monsoons to cause rain. The Aravali ranges which are parallel to the direction of these winds do not stand as a barrier. The monsoon winds which come from the Bay of Bengal loose almost all the moisture by the time they reach here. As a result this part remains dry and has no rains. It has turned this fertile land into a barren desert. There are no rivers. The river Loni which flows through this land remains dry for most of the part and ends up in sand. In some places where water from under the ground comes up to the surface there are date palm trees. Such a place is called an Oasis. Keeker , babul trees and thorny cactus plants grow in this area.

6. Wildlife: The most notable example of a preserved ecosystem is the Desert National Park, Jaisalmer , which provides an excellent example of the natural wildlife of the region. In this park, Great Indian Bustards, Blackbucks, Chinkaras , the Indian Gazelle, the Indian Wild Ass, and Desert Foxes are common. These are species which are fast vanishing in other parts of  India . Despite the apparent difficulty of life in the desert, the animals in the Desert National Park have found ways to adapt and thrive. The park supports these wild and naturally occurring populations of species that are threatened with existence elsewhere. It is also noted for rich seashell and petrified wood deposits. The  animals  which are found in the Desert National Park exhibit many of the adaptations that are necessary for survival in the desert. These animals, along with those animals found outside the reserve, often exhibit a smaller body size, one example of  biological  adaptation to the region. In addition, many of the desert animals are nocturnal, a trait which allows them to avoid the sweltering heat of the day. There are certain other factors responsible for the survival of these animals in the desert. Due to the lack of water in this region, transformation of the grasslands into cropland has been very slow. The protection provided to them by a local community, the Bishnois , is also a factor.

7. People of the desert: The life of the people in the desert region is very hard. The population is very thin and the villages are situated at quite long distances from one another. There are a few towns in the Thar Desert. Agriculture is the main occupation of the people. Wherever water rs available people grow jowar , bajra and pulses. Our Government is trying to provide water for irrigation to this land. A big canal called the Indira Gandhi Canal has been dug out and it brings water from Sutlej to Raiasthan . It is also known as the Rajasthan Canal. It is about 500 kilometers long and takes water to northern-western Rajasthan. It irrigates Ganganagar district and some parts of Bikaner district. It has changed the face of Rajasthan. The Government has set up a big wheat farm at Suratgarh . Now the land in Ganganagar is not different from the adjoining Punjab and Haryana areas. Now wheat, maize, jowar , bajra , cotton, pulses and sugarcane are the main crops of these districts. Rearing of sheep and goats is another important occupation of the people of Rajasthan. These people move from place to place in search of grass and water for their flocks. Such people are called nomads. Some of the nomads have taken up blacksmith as their occupation. They make and sell things made of iron. They keep on moving from place to place on their bullock carts. A group of people travelling together on camels form a Caravan.