65 million year old columnar basalts discovered in Asifabad

The basalts were forms of lava rocks that rose from underground holes, hardened and cooled when the lava flow cooled down about 65 million years ago as opined by Chakilam Venugopal, geophysicist

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: Members of the Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam (KTCB), an independent body of historians, said on Monday that they had discovered ancient yet rare columnar basalts in the forests of the remote Ramnagar and Gouri villages of Kerameri mandal.

Tirupathi Gitte, a member of the organization said the basalts were the forms of lava rocks that rose from underground holes, hardened and cooled when the lava flow cooled down about 65 million years ago as opined by Chakilam Venugopal, geophysicist and retired deputy director of the GCSI. He requested the State Department of Heritage to declare the spot as a protected site.

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He said the pentagon and hexagon shaped basalts measured between three feet and 30 feet and were rare. They needed to be studied and mapped, he said, adding that the black basalts were recently discovered atop Gilbert Hill in Andheri, Kollapur, Osmanabad and Bheed Chincholi of Maharashtra.

KTCB convener Sriramoju Haragopal said similar antique basalts were found in the forests of of Shantipur village, Bazarhathnoor in 2015 for the first time and in Borlalguda in 2021 and at famous Pochera waterfalls of Boath in 2022. They were also spotted at a waterfall near Vasthavapur village in Mamada mandal of Nirmal district.

Haragopal said the mapping of basalts flow carried out by the Geological Survey of India in the past was incomplete. However, the Deccan Traps Volcanic Province (DTVP) drew a map of volcanic lava including the Telangana region. More columnar basalts were likely to be identified in Telangana.