JCBs may push Dhar's dinosaur relics to extinction

From the Times of India: JCBs may push Dhar's dinosaur relics to extinction
INDORE: Whatever might have wiped out the dinosaurs of Dhar, their priceless fossils are now under threat of going to dust under the JCBs and pickaxes, while the state government is doing scarcely anything about it.

The latest threat is a huge cement factory being proposed near Manawar, which, palaeontologists and environmentalists say, is the biggest challenge to the fossils that had survived over millions of years.

Prof Tapas Gangopadhaya, a senior Palaeontologist who has been working on the Narmada Valley fossils for about a decade now, points out that the fossils in the upper Lameta belt of the valley are well known globally. Beneath the Lameta belt is the swathe of limestone used in cement plants. "Limestone cannot be taken out without damaging the Lameta belt, so it is imperative to regulate mining in the area. Otherwise we will soon lose our pre-historic treasure," asserts Gandopadhaya, adding that a lot of fossils have already been destroyed in Jirabad by mining, and this may be repeated in Dhar too, if nothing is done immediately.

Prof Gangopadhyaya also suggested that mining companies be instructed to go for inclined mining in order to take out the fossils undamaged. All fossils recovered should be deposited with a museum or a relevant institution, he urged.

Former director of the Geographical Survey of India (Palaeontology division), Arun Sonakia told TOI that the area where fossils are found should be demarcated and segregated as fossil zone and a committee should look into granting of mining permissions in these areas. "Permission for mining should only be given after surveying the ground situation. The consent should be conditional, including that the mining company would be held responsible for any damage caused to fossils," Sonakia said.

Palaeontologist Vishal Verma said that the planned cement factory is already moving to acquire some 100 acres of land near Manawar, which is known to be one of the richest dinosaur fossil sites in the world. "The company has actually asked for 1000 acres, and the process of acquiring the initial 100 acres has already begun. We fear that limestone mining in the area will be catastrophic for the fossil wealth" he asserted.

Highlighting the damage already being caused to the fossils from mining, Ajay Jaiswal, who has done extensive research on them, observed that severe damage has already been done to fossils in Narshingpur, Jabalpur and Hosangabad, which are considered as prime fossil areas.. "A lot of stone chips factories are operating in those areas and the mining contractors are not bothered at all about the importance of those fossils. They take out and crush the fossils routinely, while sand contractors destroy fossils with their JCB machines almost every day," he said.

Jaiswal says he has been seeing fossils along with the surrounding maroon and yellow soil being scooped and used even for such things as filling trenches and making the first layer for roads. If indiscriminate mining is not stopped, the same picture will be repeated in Dhar too, where a large volume of dinosaurs eggs have been found over the past five years'', he warned.

Ashok Sahani, senior scientist at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Geology, and an international authority on fossils, said mining being a commercial deal, the mining companies cannot be expected to understand the value of dinosaur fossils. It is for the administration and the authorities concerned to frame rules and regulations for mining in fossil areas. "The experience of Rahioli in Kheda district of Gujarat has been horrific. Even after establisihing a fossil park there, mining over the period of time caused huge damage to the fossils. The fossils of Dhar are also under threat and need to be protected," he stressed.

Vishal Verma said the overriding concern was how to preserve the fossils. "We wrote to the cement to company through district administration asking that they should at least fence off five acres on their site and develop a fossil conservation centre there. All the fossils dug out from the site should be preserved there. If that is not possible, they could also develop a fossil conservation centre at the nearby Borlai village and preserve fossils there, its ownership handed to the nearest government school," Verma said.