Sambhar Lake to be an Eco-Tourism Site

It is undoubtedly an amazing news in the tourism industry that the rich in history and salt, Sambhar lake is coming in the lime light as an eco tourism sight. The Jaipur tourism authority has taken this valuable decision to develop this precious lake in an eco tourism site, “which will showcase the salt manufacturing process in the past 50 years.” Sambhar is full of historical evidences. It is even believed that this lake was bestowed by Goddess Shakambhari to the people of the area around 2500 years ago. And with the recent development in tourism industry, this site will enable people to experience the history and also the process of salt manufacturing starting from the British rule to the present day.

In the state of Rajasthan, Sambhar is the largest salt lake in India occupying an area of 190 to 230 square kilometers. It is a very quiet and sombre place. It seems that civilization here goes long long time back. Sambhar is dotted with many historical buildings, temples and salt museum. Another attraction of Sambhar is the 90 - km stretch of rail track near the lake which is a picturesque locale for the flamingoes. These tall, dainty bird flourish here when the water reaches a medium degree of salinity. Infact Sambhar is home to many of the migratory birds like Pelican, Stork, Sandpipers, Redshanks and many more. The shifting and murmuring of the various birds in the glassy water and dark mud lure each and every tourist. The water of Sambhar is too saline to some birds thus a large variety of birds can be seen in the near by surrounding water bodies. This place is undoubtedly a paradise to the ornithologist. Besides possessing a large population of aviafauna it also supports a unique variety of flora like green alga, Dunaliella salina which is common in salt water lakes. These biodiversity in the values has made Sambhar come into the eye of the tourism department and thus as a eco tourism site.

It should be reminded here that this place has also great social and cultural values. Production of salt mainly with Sambhar Salts Ltd is said to be a very age old activity. In the past also Sindhias, Rajputs, Marathas, Mughals and the rulers of Jaipur and Jodhpur jointly owned the lake and extracted salt from here. The colourfully attired local labours working in the salt pans since from the morning stand as a nice contrast to the white salt mounds all around. This is a lovely sight to enjoy how our most basic ingredient of the food is produced.

The best time to visit Sambhar is October to February. M M Bhardwaj, chairman and managing director, Hindustan Salts Ltd said that they have requested Forest Department for setting temporary huts from October to February this year and will request the Tourism Department to help them. As tourism is infusing life into Sambhar Hindustan Salts, a Union government enterprise, is planning to upgrade the infrastructure for the tourist. There is a new refinery plant which will help the lake produce one lakh MT salt annually from October 2009 and soon hit the market.