Rajasthan's Thar desert is glowing with solar panels, powering India's clean energy dreams. But behind the boom lies a quieter story that goes unsaid -- of vanishing camels, felled khejri trees, and fading pastoral life
The Thar desert is dancing, but not to the tune it once knew. Ever since Barmer struck oil in 2004, the desert was catapulted from obscurity to the frontline of India's energy story. Solar fields -- in neat military lines -- sprawl where flocks once grazed, and a Rs 80,000-crore crude refinery waits in the wings. Jaisalmer, once a sepiatinted tourist postcard of camels and its famous fort, is adding cement to its desert identity. Prosperity has found a new postcode, dragging people from the margins to the mainstream.
Yet, beneath the sheen of progress, another story simmers: of cultural identity of its people and centuries-old pastoral traditions fading, camels and sheep disappearing, vital khejri trees falling to the axe, and the fragile biodiversity fraying. The region is at a crossroads, caught between progress and preservation, megawatts and memories.