SHILLONG: The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is likely to declare Mawmluh cave, where the rock formation defines the Meghalayan Age, as a geological heritage site.
Mulkh Raj Jarngal, the additional director general of GSI’s North East region, told media persons in the city on Wednesday the Survey is in talks with the state government and after the cave gets the geo-heritage site status, Meghalaya has to develop it.
Limestone mining at Mawmluh cave has endangered it and local caver Brian Kharpran Daly had been seeking preservation of the site for a long time.
In an earlier interview with The Shillong Times, Daly had expressed dissatisfaction over the apathy of successive governments in preserving the caves in Meghalaya.
“The most extensive caves here are of limestone and rampant mining is destroying them,” he had observed.
On International Fossil Day last month, geologists, during a GSI programme, had observed that Meghalaya “is a treasure house for geologists where fossils and traces of major global events are recorded”.
Tapan Pal, GSI’s director, PSS, North Eastern Region, had said since Meghalayan Age “is a global event and stratotype is here, we have to preserve it and since it is reported from Mawmluh cave, which is a global stratotype, we have to preserve that as a geological heritage site”.
A study of the cave has revealed that the period of drought that began 4,200 years ago and lasted 200 years affected many countries.
