Meghalaya's 1,060 Caves

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Abode of clouds... & caves!

 

Meghalaya has always been a popular tourist destination because of its

sylvan hills and pleasant weather. However, what is now attracting the

globetrotter is large number of caves located all around the state. In

the last one decade, with the discovery of over one thousand caves in

different parts of the state, it has become a hub of cave explorers

and adventurers from all over the world. Recently, a 17-member team

comprising spelaeologists from England, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria

and Ireland besides India linked the "Krem um im-Liat Prah" cave

system in Jaintia hills to the "Krem labbit (Khaidong)" caves to

create a single cave system of 22,202.65 metres which is the longest

known cave in the Indian sub continent. "During the discovery of the

longest cave in the subcontinent, 39 other caves were also explored,

mapped and photographed to discover 15,498 m of new cave passage in

the state," says Brian Kharpran Dally, a spelaeologist from Meghalaya,

who was also a part of the team. Till the early 1990s, very little was

known about the caves of Meghalaya. About a dozen caves were known to

the people. In 1995, an organisation known as the Meghalaya

Adventurers Association started its first expedition. Today there are

approximately 1,060 discovered caves in the state. "Since 1995, we

have been undertaking expeditions under the `Caving in the abode of

the clouds' project. It has led to unexpected discoveries," says

Brian, the general secretary of MAA.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=14&theme=&usrsess=1&id=112595