Shillong, Sep 23: The Meghalayan Age Caves (Mawmluh, Arwah, Mawsmai and Krem Puri caves), have been included in India’s seven new submissions to the tentative list of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention under natural category.
According to the UNESCO website, India submitted the seven properties on August 27. The list includes: Deccan Traps at Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar (Maharashtra); Geological Heritage of St. Mary’s Island Cluster (Udupi, Karnataka); Meghalayan Age Caves (East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya); Naga Hill Ophiolite (Nagaland); Natural Heritage of Erra Matti Dibbalu (Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh); Natural Heritage of Tirumala Hills (Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh); and Natural Heritage of Varkala (Kerala).
With this, India now has 69 sites on the tentative list—49 cultural, three mixed and 17 natural.
There are at least 12 such caves located in the limestone rich belt of the Garo, Khasi and Jaintia Hills which are known for their unique and rare formation of stalactites and stalagmites. However, four caves of East Khasi hills were chosen above the others keeping in view of their size, geological features and accessibility.
The stalactites and stalagmite formed in one of the caves i.e. Mawmluh cave has been identified as the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Meghalayan Age Stage of Holocene Series.
The evidence marker found in the rare stalactites and stalagmites found in these caves were responsible for the latest revision of the famous International Chronostratigraphic Chart with the new and current age entrant, that is, the Meghalayan age. Many of these caves are still unexplored or only partially explored and constitute an important heritage in the timescale of human history.
In its justification, India said these caves are one of the few recognized sites with this kind signature of the Holocene period in the world. The very high rainfall in the region coupled with rich limestone formations has enabled the formation of such unique stalactites and stalagmite.
According to the submission, Meghalayan Age Caves are among the longest caves of their kind in the world. It pointed out that the caves are one of the few places where on-going geologic processes are most apparent and stalactites and stalagmites continue to form, enabling scientists to study geological processes and time series in a virtually undisturbed environment.
The Meghalayan Age Caves are also home to some endemic species and rare variety of fauna and rare varieties of fish species have been discovered in the caves.
