06-bioresourcesstatu.. - M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation

Gulf of Kachchh
II. Description of Site
i. Geographic location
The Gulf of Kachchh is an indentation in the
Saurashtra Peninsula of the western coast of
India, aligned approximately in the east-west
direction (Figure 1). Water depth in the Gulf
ranges from 15 to 55m and the deeper areas
occurs in the axial part along east west. The Gulf
lies between latitudes 22" 15'N to 23"N and
longitudes 69"E to 70"35'E. At seaward (western),
it is 70 km wide from where it tapers gradually
eastwards, extending for nearly 170 km and has
an area of 7350 km'.
The southern shores of the Gulf area are marked
by a low-level coastal plain with indentations,
deep inlets and a large number of river openings.
In the southern region, an area of 457.92 km' that
includes 42 islands is managed under Marine
National Park & Sanctuary.
Table 1 : Distribution of Wildlife Protected Areas
around the Gulf of Kachchh
Bin-geographic Area National Area Sanctuary Area Tntal
SUb.division park
Bio-geographic Zone -3lndian Desert, Biotic Province- 3A Kachcl1h
Uttle Rann 4.000 - WiidAss 4,953.7 4.953.8
GreatRann 15,000 GreatRann 7,506.2 7.506.2
Kachcl1h Plateau 26.650 - Narayan 444.2 444.2
Sarovar
Kacl1c11hGIB 2.0 2.0
Tntal 45650 - - 4 12,906.1 2,906.2
BiD-geographic Zone.B, Coasts, Biotic Province- SA West Coast
Gulf of Kachchh 7.350 Marine 162.9 Marine 295.0 457.9
National Sanctuary
Park
Source: Singh, 200f.
FIgure 1 : The Gulf 01 Kacbchh Msp.
2
f
Numerous live and dead corals with their reefs,
islands and extensive mudflats fringe the southern
coast. In contrast, the northern coast is fringed by
tidal flat only.
Entire coast in the west of Kachchh, including the
network of Kori creek has e~ensive mudflats. Out
of 42 islands, 33 have coral reefs. The intertidal
coral reefs on islands and the coastal zone in
Jamnagar are either degraded or dead, 20 to 30%
coral reef area is live in the intertidal zone (SAC
Report, 1994).
Majority of the coast in Kachchh and Jamnagar
are occupied by Prosopis chilensis. Thorny scrub
forests occur on the coast of Jamnagar and also on
some of the islands.
About 100 km towards northwest of the Gulf of
Kachchh is located the opening of the Indus river,
discharging an annual suspended load of over 400
million tones. Some of the suspended sediments
are transported towards south-east direction into
the Gulf of Kachchh where the sediments are in
transit under the action of the high speed of the
currents.
The Gulf of Kachchh is a terrestrial ecosystem but
it is a part of biogeographical zone 'coasts'. As per
biogeographical classification by the WII,
Dehradun, the Park and Sanctuary area lies in the
biotic province 'SA-WestCoast'. The Gulf areas is
located between the terrestrial biotic provinces of
semi arid - 4B Gujarat-Rajwara and Desert-3
Kachchh. Distribution of area under various
categories/eco-systems are indicated as under: