BOOM TOWN IN THE DESERT
DECADE AGO, A BLINK-AND-YOU-MISS-IT signboard is all that announced Pachpadra, located somewhere between Barmer and Jodhpur on desert highway NH-112. Half a dozen shops and two dhabas were the only things visible as the dust kicked up in the endless sprawl of the Thar. Today, there are at least 200 shops lined up on either side of the road. Every day is like a haat, as shoppers mill around and dozens of under construction multistorey buildings create a new skyline. The Pachpadra tehsil headquarters, part of Barmer district in Rajasthan, is in a traditionally vegetarian part of Rajasthan, but ‘fish and meat’ shops are flourishing, catering to the workers from other states. Most times during the day, the highway and village lanes are choked; some 2,000 vehicles frequent the upcoming HPCL…