Wildlife body shoots down Rann road plan for third time

A fresh bid by security forces to revive plans for a road running through both the Great and Little Rann of Kutch has been shot down by the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL),the country’s apex authority on wildlife and protected areas,for the third time.

The Rann Road is a 225-km road proposed by Gujarat’s Road and Building Department. The proposal has been supported by the BSF and the state’s Home,Tourism and,interestingly,Environment and Forest departments on the ground of defence logistics.

In the last NBWL meeting,a BSF representative proposed a 32-km detour around Flamingo city and culverts every 20 km along the road to allow the mixing of fresh and salty water in the Rann.