The northern part of India, adjoining the Himalaya, is considered as one of the global hot spots of pollution because of various natural and anthropogenic factors.

Vegetation of Indian Thar region is ecologically important, though fragile. Any change in its composition and trait will ultimately impact the productivity and sustainability of the system and the region. This region has 682 species belonging to 352 genera and 87 families of flowering plants. Among them, Prosopis cineraria, locally called as Khejri or Jandi is an indigenous tree, which effectively stabilizes sand dunes and can withstand periodic burial. 

Original Source

The Thar desert is rich in biodiversity of flora and fauna. In this region, despite of harsh climatic conditions several plants of medicinal and other importance occurs. In recent past due to various regions several plants have either completely lost their habitat or left in few patches only. Some of the threatened plants of medicinal importance with their uses and detais are presented in this paper.

For long, widely divergent views (based on isolated pieces of historical evidence or broad geological evolution of the subcontinent, notably the rise of the Himalayas in mid-late Miocene), had prevailed regarding origin and antiquity of the Thar Desert. Studies of the past few decades have since provided a wealth of new information on landform styles, evolutionary processes and palaeoclimate history with chronometric and isotopic constraints. Salt lakes, dunes and calcrete-bearing alluvial aggradations have been the focus of interest.

River Saraswati is believed to have flown through the Thar Desert, as reconstructed by several experts based on critical data gathered by them. A careful observation of the channel shows that in most of the places these are fault-controlled. Studies of palaeochannels in many parts of the world proved successful in identifying high-yielding freshwater zones. Presence of fault system accelerates the recharge process and down-flow of water gets maximized through fault planes during the wet period.