Post by L Roebuck on Oct 12, 2006 13:04:38 GMT -5
GSI plans to hunt for caves in the Himalayas
Deepti Saxena, Dehra Dun, Oct 9: Could there be Ajantas and Elloras in the Himalayas? Well the Geological Survey plans to explore possible caves and hot springs in the Himalayan region to boost geo-tourism.
With most of the caves remaining unexplored, the Geological Survey of India(GSI) has mooted an idea to unravel the mystery of these caves by including them in the geo-tourism sector along with hot-springs and other interesting geographical features.
"The concept of geo-tourism has picked up momentum in the American and European continents. We can also identify several caves that can become geo-tourism attractions in India," said P C Nawani, director, GSI, here.
As part of this move, the GSI has also approached the Uttaranchal government to work on the exploration of new caves in the Himalayas, citing the example of Ajanta and Ellora, which are big tourist attractions, Nawani said once this concept picks up in Uttaranchal it can be replicated in other parts of the country.
For this purpose, Nawani has held talks with top government officials.
According to a survey, the chances of finding caves are more in the limestone belt in the lower Himalayas. "As you proceed further east from Mussoorie, the entire limestone belt along the lower Himalayas in places like Nainital may be full of caves," said Nawani.
Besides caves, the GSI also wants to include hot-springs in the geo-tourism features. It has also identified nearly 63 such sites in Uttaranchal alone. The GSI has also identified several sites as national geological monuments. A special publication on national geological monuments has already been released.
The highly controversial 2400MW Tehri dam can also form part of the geo-tourism. "In Tehri, we can tell tourists about the importance of geological formations of the area which are very fragile," said Nawani.
The Indian subcontinent exhibits imprints of varied geological processes through ages and is a storehouse of interesting features, scientists say.
Article
Deepti Saxena, Dehra Dun, Oct 9: Could there be Ajantas and Elloras in the Himalayas? Well the Geological Survey plans to explore possible caves and hot springs in the Himalayan region to boost geo-tourism.
With most of the caves remaining unexplored, the Geological Survey of India(GSI) has mooted an idea to unravel the mystery of these caves by including them in the geo-tourism sector along with hot-springs and other interesting geographical features.
"The concept of geo-tourism has picked up momentum in the American and European continents. We can also identify several caves that can become geo-tourism attractions in India," said P C Nawani, director, GSI, here.
As part of this move, the GSI has also approached the Uttaranchal government to work on the exploration of new caves in the Himalayas, citing the example of Ajanta and Ellora, which are big tourist attractions, Nawani said once this concept picks up in Uttaranchal it can be replicated in other parts of the country.
For this purpose, Nawani has held talks with top government officials.
According to a survey, the chances of finding caves are more in the limestone belt in the lower Himalayas. "As you proceed further east from Mussoorie, the entire limestone belt along the lower Himalayas in places like Nainital may be full of caves," said Nawani.
Besides caves, the GSI also wants to include hot-springs in the geo-tourism features. It has also identified nearly 63 such sites in Uttaranchal alone. The GSI has also identified several sites as national geological monuments. A special publication on national geological monuments has already been released.
The highly controversial 2400MW Tehri dam can also form part of the geo-tourism. "In Tehri, we can tell tourists about the importance of geological formations of the area which are very fragile," said Nawani.
The Indian subcontinent exhibits imprints of varied geological processes through ages and is a storehouse of interesting features, scientists say.
Article