Kutch district


Kutch district, is a district of Gujarat state in western India, with its headquarters at Bhuj. Covering an area of 45,674 km2, it is the largest district of India. The area of Kutch is larger than the entire area of other Indian states like Haryana and Kerala, as well as the country of Estonia. The population of Kutch is about 2,092,371. It has 10 talukas, 939 villages, and 6 municipalities. The Kutch district is home to the Kutchi people who speak the Kutchi language.
Kutch literally means something which intermittently becomes wet and dry; a large part of this district is known as Rann of Kutch which is shallow wetland which submerges in water during the rainy season and becomes dry during other seasons. The same word is also used in Sanskrit origin for a tortoise. The Rann is known for its marshy salt flats which become snow white after the shallow water dries up each season before the monsoon rains.
The district is also known for ecologically important Banni grasslands with their seasonal marshy wetlands which form the outer belt of the Rann of Kutch.
Kutch is surrounded by the Gulf of Kutch and the Arabian Sea to the south and west, while the northern and eastern parts are surrounded by the Great and Little Rann of Kutch. It is also next to the border with Pakistan, a neighbouring country of India. When there were not many dams built on its rivers, the Rann of Kutch remained wetlands for a large part of the year. Even today, the region remains wet for a significant part of year. The district had a population of 2,092,371 as of 2011 census, of which 30% were urban. Motor vehicles registered in Kutch district have a registration number starting with GJ-12. The district is well connected by road, rail and air. There are four airports in the district: Nalia, Anjar, Mundra, and Bhuj. Bhuj and Anjar are well connected with Mumbai airport. Being a border district, Kutch has both an army and an air force base.

History

The history of Kutch can be traced back to prehistoric times. There are several sites related to the Indus Valley Civilization in the region, and it is mentioned in Hindu mythology. The region is also mentioned in Greek writings during the reign of Alexander the Great. For a time, it was ruled by Menander I of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, which was then overthrown by Indo-Scythians. The region was later ruled by the Maurya Empire and Sakas. In the first century CE, it was under the Western Satraps, followed by the Gupta Empire. By the fifth century, the Maitraka dynasty of Valabhi took over from which its close association with the ruling clans of Gujarat started.
Hieun Tsang refers to Kutch as Kiecha in his writings. In the seventh century, Kutch was being ruled by Charans, Kathis, and Chavdas. The Chavdas ruled the eastern and central parts by the seventh century, but Kutch came under the rule of the Chaulukya dynasty by the tenth century. After the fall of Chaulukya, the Vaghelas ruled the state. By the thirteenth century, the Vaghelas controlled the whole of Kutch and adopted a new dynastic identity, Jadeja.
For three centuries, Kutch was divided and ruled by three different branches of the Jadeja brothers. In the sixteenth century, Kutch was unified under one rule by Rao Khengarji I of these branches, and his direct descendants ruled for two centuries and had a good relationship with the Gujarat Sultanate and Mughals. One of his descendants, Rayadhan II, left three sons, of whom two died, and a third son, Pragmalji I took over the state and founded the current lineage of rulers at the start of the seventeenth century. The descendants of the other brothers founded states in Kathiawar. After turbulent periods and battles with the armies of Sindh, the state was stabilized in the middle of the eighteenth century by a council known as Bar Bhayat ni Jamat who placed Rao as a titular head and ruled independently. The state accepted the sovereignty of the British East India Company in 1819, when Kutch was defeated in battle. That same year, the state was devastated by an earthquake. The state stabilized and flourished in business under subsequent rulers.
Upon the independence of India in 1947, Kutch acceded unto the dominion of India and was constituted an independent commissionaire. It was made a state within the union of India in 1950. The state witnessed an earthquake in 1956. On 1 November 1956, Kutch State was merged with Bombay state, which in 1960 was divided into the new linguistic states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, with Kutch becoming part of Gujarat as Kutch district. The district was affected by a tropical cyclone in 1998 and the earthquake in 2001. The state saw rapid industrialization and growth in tourism in subsequent years.

Topography

Kutch District, at, is the largest district in India. The administrative headquarters is the city of Bhuj which is geographically in the center of the district. Gandhidham is the largest city and Financial centre of Kutch. Other main towns are Rapar, Nakhatrana, Anjar, Mandvi, Madhapar, Mundra and Bhachau. Kutch has 969 villages. Kala Dungar is the highest point in Kutch at.
Kutch is virtually an island, as it is surrounded by the Arabian Sea in the west; the Gulf of Kutch in south and southeast and Rann of Kutch in north and northeast. The border with Pakistan lies along the northern edge of the Rann of Kutch, of the Sir Creek. The Kutch peninsula is an example of active fold and thrust tectonism. In Central Kutch there are four major east-west hill ranges characterized by fault propagation folds with steeply dipping northern limbs and gently dipping southern limbs. From the gradual increasing dimension of the linear chain of hillocks towards the west along the Kutch mainland fault and the epicentre of the earthquake of 2001 lying at the eastern extreme of Kutch mainland fault, it is suggested that the eastern part of the Kutch mainland fault is progressively emerging upward. It can be suggested from the absence of distinct surface rupture both during the 1956 Anjar earthquake and 2001 Bhuj earthquake, that movements have taken place along a blind thrust. Villages situated on the blind thrust in the eastern part of the Kutch mainland hill range were completely erased during the 2001 earthquake.

Rivers and dams

There are ninety-seven small rivers in Kutch District, most of which flow into the Arabian Sea, but some of which feed the Rann of Kutch. Twenty major dams, and numerous smaller dams, capture the rainy season runoff. While most of these dams do not affect the Ranns, as they are on rivers that feed directly into the Arabian Sea, storage of rainy season water upstream from Kutch and its use in irrigation has resulted in less fresh water coming into the Ranns of Kutch during the rainy season. This is true of the Great Rann, but particularly true of the Little Rann which is fed by the Luni, Rupen, the Bambhan, the Malwan, the Kankawati, and the Saraswati rivers. However sea water from the Arabian Sea still continues to be driven into the Great Rann by storm tides aided by high winds. Water remains a serious issue in Kutch. Kutch's thirst for water is satisfied by Narmada river flowing from Sardar Sarovar dam.
DamReservoirRiverdepth in meters
when full		near
Bhukhi DamBhukhi72.78
Berachiya DamNyara70.40
Chang Dam18.00
Don DamKharod47.75
Fatehgadh DamMalan22.70
Gajansar DamGajansarPanjora31.08
Gajod DamNagmati90.82
Godhatad DamMitiariwali23.00
Goyala DamGoyalaSugandhi8.00
Jangadia DamJanghadiaKhari38.60
Kaila DamKaila79.25
Kalaghogha DamPhot37.00
Kankawati DamKankawati131.67
Kaswati DamKaswati51.20
Mathal DamDhadodh82.78
Mitti DamMittiMitti18.50
Nara DamNara27.43
Nirona DamBhurud43.58
Rudramata DamRudramati 66.44
Sanandro DamKali59.74
Suvi DamSuvi42.67Lilpar
Tappar DamSakara40.85
Vijay sagar Dam33.00

Divisions

Kutch is divided into four zones:
  • Wagad
  • Kanthi, comprising Mundra and half of Mandvi taluka.
  • Banni
  • Makpat.
File:IndianWildAss.jpg|thumb|Indian wild ass, or khur or ghodkhur in Gujarati language.
Under the Kutch princely state, Kutch was divided into Bani, Abdasa, Anjar, Banni, Bhuvad Chovisi, Garado, Halar Chovisi, Kand, Kantho, Khadir, Modaso, Pranthal, Prawar, and Vagad.
Kutch District is further divided into six subdistricts, each comprising one or two taluka:
  • Bhuj
  • Anjar
  • Bhachau
  • Mundra
  • Nakhatrana
  • Naliya

    Wildlife sanctuaries and reserves

From the city Bhuj various ecologically rich and wildlife conservation areas of the Kutch district can be visited such as Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary, Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary, Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary, Kutch Bustard Sanctuary, Banni Grasslands Reserve and Chari-Dhand Wetland Conservation Reserve.