Naturally formed stone pillars identified in Kumram Bheem Asifabad

Hyderabad: Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam member Tirupati Githe along with his friends have identified ‘Columnar Basalt’ formation, naturally formed stone pillars, on a small stone hilltop in the reserve forest area of Borilalguda village of Kerameri in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district.

As per the Geologists, the basaltic lava flow, which has come to the surface through fissures, has spread over an area of 5 lakh Sq Km in the form of Deccan Traps on the Deccan Plateau. These basaltic lava flows have cooled down into different natural structural formations in Central and Western India which are now called ‘Columnar Basalts’.

During the summer, the agricultural land fissures into pentagonal, hexagonal, octagonal, and polygonal forms. These forms continue into the earth’s crust and solidify to form columnar formations. Experts say these polygonal solidified lava formations might have formed similarly.

Columnar Basalt formations were identified in many parts of India and most recently in Kolhapur, Usmanabad, and Chincholi of Beed district of Maharashtra.

Honorary Advisor to Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam, Chakilam Venugopala Rao, Retired Deputy Director General informed that in Telangana State such Columnar Basalts have been identified for the second time. In 2015, Manne Eliya identified the Columnar Basalt formations for the first time in Shantipur Reserve Forest of Adilabad District. The group appealed to the Government to declare these rare formations as a monument and conserve it.