THEY may be mute, 6ut they sure were heared! They are the,Chinkaras, or the Indian gazelles, which dwell in the drv savanna regions of.Kutch in Gujarat. A court battle for tht Chinkaras was recently won, allowing them to retain their only habitat in India, sans encroachment.

The savannas, converted into a Chinkara sanctuary in 198 1, had caught the eyes of the miners and industrialism The area contained huge deposits of fignite, limestone, bauxite and bentonite.The Sanghi Cement Ltd had eves applied for the permission for limestont mining. The state government, in an effort to develop the area, decided to change the saixtuary bounclarim. Taking up issue with Gujarat High urt, the Centre for Environmental joined by the World Wide Fund Nature - India, fought it out for Chinkaras, and won.