The Great Rann of Kutch, including the
Banni grasslands on its southern edge, is situated in the district of Kutch and comprises some between the
Gulf of Kutch and the mouth of the
Indus River in southern
Pakistan. The marsh can be accessed from the village of
Khavda in
Kutch District. The Great Rann of Kutch together with the
Little Rann of Kutch is called
Rann of Kutch. In India's summer
monsoon, the flat semi-desert of salty clay and
mudflats, which average 15 meters above sea level, fills with standing water. In very wet years, the wetland extends from the
Gulf of Kutch on the west through to the
Gulf of Khambhat on the east. The area was a vast shallow of the
Arabian Sea until continuing
geological uplift closed off the connection with the sea, creating a vast lake that was still navigable during the time of
Alexander the Great. The
Ghaggar River, which presently empties into the semi-desert of northern
Rajasthan, formerly emptied into the
Rann of Kutch, but the lower reaches of the river dried up as its upstream tributaries were captured by the
Indus and
Ganges thousands of years ago. Traces of the delta and its
distributary channels on the northern boundary of the Rann of Kutch were documented by the
Geological Survey of India in 2000. The
Luni River, which originates in
Rajasthan, drains into the semi-desert in the northeast corner of the Rann. Other rivers feeding into the marsh include the
Rupen from the east and the
West Banas River from the northeast.
Nara Canal or Puran river which is a
delta channel of the Indus River empties during floods into
Kori Creek located in the Great Rann of Kutch. There are sandy islets of thorny scrub, forming a wildlife sanctuary Wildlife, including the
Indian wild ass, shelter on islands of higher ground, called
bets, during the flooding. ==Climate==