Off-beat trails: India's salt pans are havens for bird lovers

Of nature’s bounty of diverse landscapes—sandy beaches, snow-clad mountains, wooded lakesides, plush grasslands, valleys full of flowers...—the least-explored are seasonal salt marshes that I’ve come to fall in love with over time. While Bollywood has used them to shoot scenes depicting snowy terrains, these coastal wetlands also hold great allure for ornithologists and wildlife enthusiasts, and with good reason.

The Sparkling Carpet, in Gujarat

Wild asses at the Little Rann of Kutch. Pic: Lip Kee (CC BY SA 20)

Spread over 30,000 sq km, the Rann of Kutch leaves you with a sense of endlessness. Due to its proximity to the Indo-Pak border, you have to get security clearance certificates (except during the festival period) to set foot on India’s most talked about seasonal salt marsh. Scientists believe it was originally a sea bed, but got elevated due to the 1819 earthquake. As you drive down from Bhuj, a he initial stretch of dried, cracked land gives way to a dark marshy area covered with crisp salt and should you dare to walk on it remember that it may land you into its deep muddy traps! A breeding ground for flamigoes and home to wildasses, it attracts wildlife enthusiasts and bird lovers alike, and thanks to its wonderful tribal art and crafts it also lures fashion designers, besides the hordes of tourists that visit it in December during the government-supported festival, during which tents are provided as accommodation and a host of cultural and adventure sports activities are organised. But the best time to visit the Rann is a week before the crowds pour in (and stay in Bhuj) and best way to enjoy it is by taking an early morning walk or plod under the gaze of the full moon, at night, that also makes the white salt glitter!

Mars on Earth, in Jaipur

The different shades of pink you find at Sambhar Lake are a result of the salt’s reaction with algae. Pic: Neha Mungekar

We have to thank Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Highway’ for bringing the astounding, surreal terrain of Sambhar Lake into limelight. Unlike the seemingly infinite, white expanse of the Rann, Sambhar Lake, on the outskirts of Jaipur, has pink, salt mountains of colossal scale! Some are as high as three-storeyed buildings. India’s largest salt water lake, Sambhar’s salinity is three-times the sea’s; it provides 2.1 lakh tonnes of salt each year, placing Rajasthan among the country’s top three salt-producing states. Though the different shades of pink result from the salt’s reaction with algae, the hills of pink form as women push wagon-fulls of salt off the bridge that’s near the lake’s periphery. These wagons, loaded by couples who extract salt all day, are sent to the iodization plant. The terrain and colour give the place a Mars-like look and the brine’s deep red makes you feel you’re walking in a slaughter house!

Colourful Mosaic, in Mumbai

Representational Picture. Flamingoes throng salt pans in Wadala. Pic: pdppics.com

Of the plethora of touristy places that you’ll visit while you’re in Mumbai, make time for an off-beat, natural, arty experience near Wadala’s low lying lagoons. Due to algae concentrations in water, along with pollutants from industrial estates nearby, the salt here—that floats as formless layers—takes colours of red, yellow and green! Colours change from the edge (where the salt starts forming) to the middle. Seeing these salt pans, bustling with workers and refineries in the back-ground, in the middle of the city is unique experience. For some lovely shots, it’s  best to visit in the first half of the day and to meet the lesser flamingos, November to April is the time to be here.

Wild on White, in Palghar

Vasai’s salt pans  with the Tungareshwar mountains in the background. Pic: Uday Tadphale

The route to Vasai’s salt pans itself is exciting as you pass through fishing villages, quaint churches, palm trees, orchards and grasslands in Vasai west before reaching the marshes near the railway. Though the colour of the salt is similar to what you’ll see in the pans of Wadala, its expanse and the backdrop of dense green Tungereshwar mountains give it a hinterland feel. This, despite the fact that it’s surrounded by neighbourhoods with high rises. In fact, as ‘development’ eats up the animal kingdon’s space, in recent times leopards have escaped to the salt pans, from Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, in search of food.

More to Explore
> There are several salt marshes dispersed along the intertidal zones Orissa, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu

> It’s best to see them in winters and early summers, as the salt formation is barely visible during the rains

> Migratory birds visit Mumbai and Gujarat from November to May and through the year you’ll find about 70 species, including kingfishers, terns, herons, ibises, sandpipers, lapwings and cormorants

   Neha Mungekar is an urban designer and planner by profession and a documentary photographer by passion