How Sharvan Patel Revived Rajasthan’s Wildlife with Khailis Ponds

On a scorching summer time afternoon in 2022, wildlife photographer Sharvan Patel stood quietly close to a dried-up waterhole on the fringe of Rajasthan’s Tal Chappar Sanctuary. 

The land stretched endlessly earlier than him — brown, cracked, and thirsty.

A herd of blackbucks hovered hesitantly across the shallow pit, their hooves sinking into mud. A mongoose darted in, solely to scurry away when its nostril touched the muddy trickle left on the backside.

Sharvan raised his digicam, however the weight of the second felt heavier. “That day, as I watched life wilt for the dearth of water, I made a promise to myself that I might convey again water for wildlife within the desert,” he remembers.

What started with that promise would later flip right into a motion of constructing ponds throughout Rajasthan’s drylands, reworking empty stretches into oases the place animals may drink, relaxation, and thrive.

An unintended discovery

Sharvan was not all the time a conservationist. He started as a wildlife photographer, chasing frames of raptors and deer throughout Rajasthan’s semi-arid stretches. One such pictures journey — to Tal Chappar — modified all the pieces.

A good friend, a financial institution supervisor and part-time wildlife fanatic, had taken Sharvan alongside on an audit obligation close to the sanctuary. Whereas his good friend was busy scanning the skies for raptors, Sharvan’s eye caught one thing on the bottom — a freshly constructed pond, domestically referred to as a khaili.

Curious, he crouched down and commenced measuring the pond’s size and width along with his naked arms. Quickly, forest guards arrived. Sharvan bombarded them with questions, and so they defined that the pond was an experiment, designed to present water to wildlife throughout the driest months.

At first, animals saved away. However inside weeks, the pond grew to become a hub: hares paused to drink, mongooses darted in, peafowls strutted round its edge, and even cautious blackbucks started visiting.

Sharvan was fascinated. He returned dwelling to Melwa village with the photographs etched in his thoughts. For him, this pocket of water instructed a deeper story than any {photograph} may.

The primary pond that modified all the pieces

In the summertime that adopted, Sharvan determined to construct his personal pond with a small group of buddies. It was modest in measurement, simply half a foot deep, and modelled after the normal village ponds he had grown up seeing. They used native soil, added cement to scale back seepage, and constructed an embankment to carry the rainwater.

At first, nothing occurred. Days handed with barely any visits. The pond stood nonetheless, virtually forgotten. Then one night time, Sharvan’s digicam traps captured a miracle: blackbucks bending gracefully to drink, flocks of birds circling above, and nocturnal mongooses padding in underneath the duvet of darkness.

Excited, Sharvan filmed the exercise and shared it on-line. The video went viral, sparking an outpouring of messages. Villagers, influencers, and nature fanatics urged him to copy the hassle of their areas. “Come right here,” they pleaded. “Animals are dying of thirst.”

What had begun as a photographer’s experiment had became a motion.

When the desert spoke of thirst

Sharvan’s work quickly took him past Tal Chappar. Within the villages of the desert, he witnessed heartbreaking scenes. Birds lay stiff close to dried pits, mongooses collapsed from warmth, and herds of deer circled empty tanks looking for water.

Considered one of his most painful captures confirmed a deer standing on the fringe of a shallow pit, unable to drink as a result of the water had sunk too deep.

He realised that two forces have been at play right here. The primary was the sheer shortage of pure water in Rajasthan’s desert stretches. The second was the contamination of no matter little water remained, polluted by chemical substances from agriculture and unfit for animals to drink.

It was right here that Sharvan turned to reviving an previous custom. Historically, khailis have been shallow village ponds constructed with earth and pure clay to carry monsoon water. Sharvan tailored this apply with small improvements — cement lining to minimise seepage and make sure the water stayed cool longer, then layering it with soil to provide a pure base.

The associated fee was modest, about Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 for materials and labour, but the affect was immense. In locations the place no water had existed for miles, these ponds grew to become lifelines for animals.

The price of holding ponds alive

Constructing ponds was solely half the battle. Preserving them crammed by Rajasthan’s scorching summers proved even tougher.

From March to July, temperatures soared and pure water vanished. Tankers grew to become the one lifeline. In April, Sharvan remembers, a single tanker value round Rs 1,000. By June, the worth had doubled to Rs 2,000, with the closest authorities reservoir mendacity 20–25 kilometres away. The logistics have been punishing and costly, however with out these tankers, the ponds would dry up and the animals would as soon as once more be left with nothing.

Smallest contributions, huge modifications

To maintain the ponds alive, Sharvan and his workforce launched a easy however highly effective marketing campaign: asking individuals to donate simply Re 1 a day. The concept, instructed by his good friend Yashovardhan Sharma, was that when individuals are financially invested, they continue to be emotionally invested too. 

They created a WhatsApp group referred to as ‘One Rupee Per Day for Wildlife Conservation’. Quickly, help started to trickle in, and the thought took form as a bigger motion. Almost 1,000 members joined, every contributing Rs 365 a 12 months.

“These small however constant contributions funded habitat restoration, safety of endangered species, and even enhancements in native farming practices,” explains Yashovardhan, who serves as secretary in Rajasthan’s surroundings cell of INTACH (Indian Nationwide Belief for Artwork and Cultural Heritage). “This has helped us increase funds for plantation efforts, filling up watering holes, and the removing of invasive species.” 

Social media additionally performed a key function. Sharvan’s Instagram web page, ‘Thar Desert Pictures’, unfold consciousness and drew extra individuals to the trigger.

“True conservation isn’t about giant sums of cash, however about small, constant efforts,” Yashovardhan says. “When communities unite, even a single rupee a day can revive historical past and heal nature.”

However together with help got here hurdles too. Shepherds typically drove their goats into the ponds, muddying the water and driving away wild deer. But Sharvan continued. “When a peacock dances close to the pond or a vulture circles down for a drink,” he says, “each rupee feels price it.”

Up to now, Sharvan has been instantly concerned in developing over 30 ponds. His movies and steerage have additionally impressed communities throughout Bikaner, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer to construct greater than 100 ponds of their very own.

When the desert became an oasis

The outcomes quickly spoke for themselves. Digital camera traps confirmed mongooses arriving in flocks, peacocks unfurling their feathers, and migratory birds returning to relaxation. Sharvan even recorded vultures perched solemnly across the ponds, turning the desert into what seemed like an oasis.

Essentially the most placing change was amongst blackbucks, whose numbers swelled in areas close to the ponds. As a substitute of wandering into villages the place they risked battle, they now stayed nearer to water-rich zones.

“Wildlife seems the place there’s water,” Sharvan explains merely. “It’s the coronary heart of each habitat.”

His photos capturing this revival carried the message additional. Images and brief movies he created started circulating extensively, and shortly Rajasthan Tourism showcased his work, presenting Tal Chappar as a vacation spot the place pictures and conservation got here collectively.

The subsequent chapter for Rajasthan’s wild

For Sharvan, the mission doesn’t finish with ponds. He goals of each village nurturing a mini forest inside its oran, the normal sacred neighborhood land. “If villagers plant native timber and shield small water our bodies, species like chinkaras, foxes, and blackbucks will thrive naturally,” he says.

He believes such efforts may additionally help eco-tourism. Homestays, native meals, and wildlife safaris may convey livelihoods to villages like Melwa, his own residence. “Kids shouldn’t must journey miles to see wildlife. They need to develop up with it round them.”

When requested if he considers himself a conservationist, Sharvan pauses. “I by no means thought I’d do that,” he admits. “It started with one pond, then one other. Now it seems like a purposeful duty.”

For him, the mission is obvious: to maintain water flowing the place animals want it most. And so, within the coronary heart of Rajasthan’s drylands, Sharvan is called the person who introduced ponds to a thirsty land, guaranteeing that in the midst of the desert, life nonetheless has an opportunity to drink and dance.

Edited by Khushi Arora; All photos courtesy: Sharvan Patel, Thar Desert Pictures.