Vizag has all the potential to be recognised as geo-heritage park: expert

INTACH to organise a geo-heritage walk to create awareness today

July 21, 2019 12:48 am | Updated 11:21 am IST - Sumit Bhattacharjee

A view of Erramatti Dibbalu at Bheemunipatnam in Visakhapatnam.

A view of Erramatti Dibbalu at Bheemunipatnam in Visakhapatnam.

Though there are no much details on the ancient or medieval history of Visakhapatnam district, it has a rich geological heritage attached to it and has all the trappings to be notified as a geo-heritage park under the guidelines and requirements of the UNESCO.

Experts consider Visakhapatnam as an experimental site of nature and there are a few geological phenomena, which are still evolving with the natural changes.

“Visakhapatnam has recorded geological connection from the present day to 1500 millennia and that is why it is of interest for the geological scientists,” said Prof. D. Rajasekhar Reddy, Advisor to Geo Heritage Cell of INTACH and former professor of Geology, Andhra University.

Connecting to the present day he said, “The last major climate shift took place about 18,500 years ago, which was called the Glacial Maximum or the ice age. During this period, the sea had receded about 50 km inside from the present shoreline, with a vertical drop of 120 mts. And the present beaches that we see in the city limits is about 6,000 years old and they are of scientific interest.”

But the most noteworthy development is the ongoing formation of the natural arch at Mangamaripeta beach.

“This natural rock formation is still evolving with nature and it is subject of interest and study. The formation began after the last ice age at around 10,000 years ago and is very similar to the natural rock arch in the Tirumala hills,” said Prof. Reddy.

According to Prof. Reddy, as we move towards the hinterland, the geological interests become more vintage.

Abutting the Beach Road near Bheemunipatnam is the famous red sand dunes called the ‘Erramatti Dibbalu’. This site is about 20,000 years old and has already been recognised as national geo-heritage site in 2014, and as a protected site by the A.P. government in 2016.

Moving further, we hit upon the Eastern Ghats, which is recorded to be 1,800 millennia old. “The Eastern Ghats by itself is a geo-heritage site and we have a number of specific sites on it such as the volcanic ash site at Araku,” he said.

Geological scientist from world over including GSI has dated the site to be about 75,000 years old.

A huge chunk of land in Araku valley is covered by 70 cm thick sheet of volcanic ashes, which moved all the way from Mt. Toba volcanic eruption that occurred about 75,000 years ago in Indonesia. “Further study will reveal, how big was the explosion, the climatic condition then and wind speed and other details. The ash settling down, traversing such a vast distance, is by itself intriguing,” he said.

This apart, there is the millennia old Borra Caves and the huge bauxite deposit on the hills, which has a geological significance of at least 1,500 millennia years.

Why geo-park

In the 1972 world heritage convention UNESCO initiated the programme for documenting world heritage sites. In 1993, UNESCO took the services of International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) to recognise geo-heritage sites world over, and about 370 sites were identified, including eight in India. And now there are about 34 national geo-heritage sites, including Erramatti Dibbalu.

“But it was only in 2001 that UNESCO decided to start the geo-heritage park concept to involve all stakeholders including the society to protect and conserve the sites. And when it comes to this concept, we are yet to begin and there is no national Act to protect the sites and that is why we need to move to concept of Geo-Heritage Parks,” said Prof. Reddy.

As per the UNESCO norms, for a site to qualify it should have three major qualities such as it should useful for scientific research, serve education values and aesthetics.

In Visakhapatnam, apart from the geo-heritage sites there a number of other protected monuments such as the 2,000-year-old Buddhist sites such as Thotlakonda, Bojjannakonda and Pavuralakonda and the 1,000-year-old Simhachalam temple, thus qualifying the UNESCO requirements.

“All of them can be combined and brought under one integrated management authority with the involvement of local populace to notify Vizag as geo-heritage park,” he said.

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