The Uttarakhand government is gearing up to connect 15 caves in the Gangolihat area of Pithoragarh to boost eco-tourism.
Kirti Chandra Arya, the district tourism officer of Pithoragarh, said that they have identified 15 caves which could be interlinked.
“We have prepared a project to connect the caves in the Gangolihat area. The work would be started on it as soon as we receive final approval for the government,” local reporters quoted him as saying while dubbing the project as “Cave Circuit”.
The caves include Patal Bhuwaneshwar of 24 km, Amar Mahakali of 21 km, Bholeshwar of 14 km, Gupt Ganga of 9 km, Melchor of 9 km, Daneshwar of 6 km, Shaileshwar of 6 km, Bhrigutung Parwat of 5 km, Lateshwar of 3 km, Mahamadaleshwar of 3 km, Shitla Mata of 3 km, Mahakaleshwar of 2 km, Koteshwar-Gufa of 2.5 km and Bhuteshwar of 1.5 km.
Some of the structures and a cave in the area are protected under the Archaeological Survey of India.
K.B. Sharma, an archaeologist of the ASI posted in the area, said: “May be the state government has made some plans to link them but we are not aware of anything. Patal Bhuwaneshwar is the only cave there, which is protected under the ASI.”
When asked, another ASI officer said on condition of anonymity, “We don’t have any example of such activity of connecting the caves anywhere in the world. The state government has not discussed any such project with us. It is a huge work, which requires lots of research before touching these natural caves. It is a bad idea to try to monetise every natural resource like caves, rivers and hills.”
“Uttarakhand is already suffered because of so-called developmental activities. We know how Joshimath is sinking every day allegedly because of some heavy projects and constructions there. We need to learn from our mistakes”, added the officer.
