Login Register
Follow Us

Discarded, camel loses way

CHANDIGARH: Camel has fallen to ‘Chhota Hathi’ in Punjab. At the outset, it may look like a typical ecosystem where one animal survives or the other.

Show comments

Vishav Bharti
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 18

Camel has fallen to ‘Chhota Hathi’ in Punjab. At the outset, it may look like a typical ecosystem where one animal survives or the other. But it is more about tradition versus modernity, technology versus physical labour. Just 120 camels are left in the state, all thanks to small mechanised vehicles, such as popular ‘Chhota Hathi’.

According to provisional data of the 20th Livestock Census, the camel number has come down 99.60 per cent in the past 15 years!

Till 2003 the camel population was over 30,000. Though the camel population has seen a continuous decline since 1990, but it dipped steeply between 2003 and 2007. In these four years, the camel count fell from 30,000 to 2,000.

Now the camels are left only in south Punjab, the area which has proximity to Rajasthan. Among the miniscule population of camel, Fazilka district tops with 40 camels, it is followed by 26 in Bathinda, 10 in Sangrur, 7 in Faridkot, 6 in Muktsar and 5 in Mansa. In six districts, there is not even a single camel.

For centuries, the camel has been an integral part of Punjab’s folklore. It not only figures in folk songs and dances frequently but was also immortalised in many stories.

In the old times, the camel was used for agriculture and transportation. But the technological leap after the Green Revolution reduced the camel to just a draught animal. “The story of emergence of small mechanised vehicles and decline of camel population goes parallel. One emerges, the other declines. The small vehicles were fast and easy to operate and maintain as compare to camel,” says Dr Sumant Vyas, Principal Scientist, ICAR-National Research Centre on Camel, Bikaner.

He says even states like Rajasthan have witnessed decline in camel population. “We are motivating people not to abandon this great animal as it can be used for milk in desert areas.

Population 
 Dist Count

  • Fazilka   40 
  • Bathinda 26
  • Sangrur 10
  • Faridkot 7  
  • Muktsar
  • Mansa 5

Steep decline

Year    Number

  • 1990 43,300
  • 1997 29,708
  • 2003 30,467
  • 2007 2214
  • 2012 693
  • 2019 120 
Show comments
Show comments

Top News

Most Read In 24 Hours