Success story: From fossils to factories, Kutch turns desolation into destiny

AT first glance, Kutch appears forbidding — an arid frontier of salt deserts, scant rainfall, and settlements clinging to the edge of habitability.

- VISMAY BASU @Kutch

Long dismissed as barren and peripheral, the region today tells one of India’s most striking stories of transformation. Here, geological deep time, ancient civilisation, modern industry, and tourism converge. What once seemed a liability has been reimagined as an advantage.The story begins millions of years ago. The Rann of Kutch was once a shallow marine basin connected to the Arabian Sea. Tectonic shifts and climatic change drained the waters, leaving the Great and Little Rann —landscapes of seasonal flooding and blinding winter desiccation. Near Dholavira, the Akal Wood F