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News: The Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of illegal sand mining threatening the fragile ecosystem of the National Chambal Sanctuary and its gharial habitat.
About National Chambal Sanctuary
- Location: The sanctuary lies at the tri-junction of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
- National Chambal Sanctuary is India’s first and only tri-state protected riverine sanctuary.
- The sanctuary is also known as the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary.
- Establishment: The Chambal sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh was officially notified on December 20, 1978 as a protected area for wildlife conservation.
- Topography: The sanctuary has a rugged landscape that includes ravines, hills, and sandy beaches along the river channel.
- Major rivers: The sanctuary extends along a 425 km stretch of the Chambal River, which forms the core riverine habitat of the protected area.
- Flora: The vegetation of the sanctuary belongs to the Kathiar–Gir dry deciduous forest ecoregion, which supports the riverine ecosystem.
- Fauna: The sanctuary supports rich aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity. It protects the largest population of critically endangered gharial in the wild.
- It is listed as an Important Bird Area (IBA).
- Other species include mugger crocodile, smooth-coated otters, striped hyena, Indian wolves, Gangetic river dolphins, and several freshwater turtles.
- Threats: Illegal sand mining has emerged as the biggest threat to the sanctuary’s ecology and aquatic life.
