Heritage Restoration
Under HH Khengarji III’s lengthy reign (1875-1942), Kutch considerably expanded its protected areas. Grass preserves, known as ‘rakhals’, increased from 19 in the 1880s to 44 in the early 1900s, comprising approx 300 square miles of land cover. Chadva Rakhal was Khengarji III’s favourite rakhal, where he experimented with breeding Guinea Fowl imported from Somalia. The horse-drawn journey along the sandy tracks from the palace in Bhuj would have taken hours compared to the 40 minute car journey today. Hence, he built the overnight Camp House, stables and other related structures which remain in ruin after the 2001 earthquake. You can read more about the history here.
The Maharao Pragmulji Nature Conservation Trust is currently restoring some of the annexe structures as a field research centre and office base for the conservation projects taking place at Chadva Rakhal, with support from the Saros Ardeshar Dadabhoy Naoroji Endowment Fund.
It is the ultimate vision to restore the Camp House and remodel the building as a beautiful and informative nature interpretation centre and library, open to the public.
