MULTAN: A stretch of over 100km of the desert area in Rahim Yar Khan district, which formed a major portion of the Cholistan desert jeep rally’s track in the route circulated among registered participants, has now been excluded from the rally route apparently because of objections raised by houbara bustard hunters from Abu Dhabi.

One of the registered participants of the rally told Dawn that they had been initially issued a route map which included the 100km stretch of the desert area but this portion of the track was removed a few days ago. The updated map detailing the new track has not yet been issued.

The race track has two circular routes — the first is a 240km stretch, 100km of which lies in Rahim Yar Khan and 140km in Bahawalpur districts; the second is 253km long, 56km of which is located in Bahawalnagar and 197km in Bahawalpur.

“The track of the first circle has now been changed by removing a 100km-long route from Rahim Yar Khan district...the circle is now 210km long and the entire route is located in Bahawalpur district,” he said.

Sources said that the decision was taken after some hunters from Abu Dhabi had raised objections. They said the hunters had contacted the authorities after they saw a team conducting a survey along the route of the rally. The track was then shifted from the hunting area allotted to Abu Dhabi hunters to the area allotted to hunters from Dubai.

The annual trip for hunters from Abu Dhabi had been delayed owing to the fact that winter began late this season. The hunters would usually visit the area between the last week of November and the second week of January. Since the rally would be held after they had left, they had never raised objections against this before.

Punjab Tourism Corporation Regional Manager Ashar Iqbal expressed ignorance over the change in the rally track, saying that the track for previous years would be used for the stock category race.

Bahawalpur Commissioner Captain Saqib Zaffar, however, confirmed that the track had been changed. “There is a new track every year, so there is a completely new track this year as well,” he said.

He said the hunters were not in the area in these days, so changing the route over their objections was out of the question.

The four-day desert rally is scheduled to begin on Feb 9.

Last year in October, the organisers had announced that the Feb 2017 rally would have a 450km-long route, spreading across Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalnagar districts.

Published in Dawn February 8th, 2017