Journey of Salkhan Fossils: From oblivion to limelight

Busy planting paddy in his field in the vicinity of Salkhan Fossil Park, Gulab Singh, in his childhood, didn’t have the bleakest idea that the hilly pocket holds in its belly evidence of the beginning of life on the earth.

But in the mid-80s, Singh, now a septuagenarian, got to know about the ‘treasure’ in the hills from a team of around half a dozen geologists and officials of the forest department and district administration. They worked with a little chisel and small hammer, recalled Singh.

Singh said, “In my childhood, this hilly pocket looked like a desert. There were no plants or trees. It used to remain without vegetation for eight months. During the rainy season, grass used to grow, locals like us used to graze our cattle on this pocket. After those geologists left, efforts began to give this hill area the shape of a park. By the late 80s, plantation was done and locals were told not to damage the fossils.”

The Salkhan Fossil Park, is spread over 25 hectares of hilly land.

The revelation that the hilly pocket nurtures the oldest fossils on Earth, dating back more than 3.5 billion years and evidence of the beginning of life on Earth, left many locals surprised. The hill is dotted with fossils in several patches. One patch has maximum fossils. All the patches of hill with fossils are now fenced.

But the park took shape in the year of 2002 following the efforts of the then district magistrate of Sonbhadra, Bhagwan Shankar, and the then divisional forest officer Sunil Dubey, says Singh. A room for guard and a cemented gazebo with several benches were built. Necessary infrastructure is also being created around the Fossil Park to preserve it and hand it over to the next generation as heritage.

Forest guard Shyam Sundar Gautam, who is deployed for the protection of the park says, “A team of several geoscientists visited the park on August 8, 2002, and examined the fossils. Then they told us that the fossils are of immense importance and very very old,” recalls Gautam.

In between the 80s and 2002, several geological teams from the BHU visited the park

Deployed by the department of forests, Gautam remains on duty round the clock and protects the fossils park.

Meanwhile, visitor numbers to the park are steadily rising. Earlier, 10 to 15 people used to visit the park daily, then the number increased to 50 and at present around 50 to 100 people visit the park daily.

Salkhan Fossil Park

According to the Geological Survey of India (GSI), the Salkhan Fossil Park displays well-developed stromatolites in the form of concentric rings on the rocks.

The Salkhan Fossil Park is located in the Vindhyan Basin which is an intracontinental basin and consists of sedimentary rocks of Proterozoic age during 1700-900 Ma. The approximately 1.4 billion year old rocks of this basin do not contain any remains of body parts or fossils, except stromatolites.

GSI explains, stromatolites are bioidentical structures made by cyanobacteria, also known as blue algae, that grow on the seafloor, preserved as thin-layered rocks/mounds. These are the oldest fossils on Earth, dating back more than 3.5 billion years and evidence of the beginning of life on Earth. These cyanobacteria (blue algae) are thought to be responsible for photosynthesis, which resulted in increased oxygen levels in the early Earth’s atmosphere, vital for life to develop and flourish on the planet.

Although stromatolites are found in other parts of India like Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Orissa, Sikkim and Chhattisgarh etc., the stromatolites in Salkhan Fossil Park are rare and unique in terms of excellent preservation of internal structure and wide distribution, the GSI adds.

Prof Vaibhav Srivastava from the department of geology, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), who has visited the Salkhan Fossils Park innumerable times, said, “For geologists like us, these fossils are very important because through research, one may help determine the exact time of the origin of life on earth.”

Prof Srivastava explained that previously it was believed life did not exist before 570 million years ago. However, later studies suggested the presence of life in the ocean in the form of blue-green algae. Salkhan Fossil Park and Yellowstone National Park in the US are among the rare sites that provided evidence of life existing earlier, making them critical for study.

These fossils date back to when the Vindhyan Sea existed in this region. Over time, this sea transformed into what is now known as the Vindhyachal Mountains.

Prof Srivastava emphasised the importance of preserving these fossils for future generations due to their academic significance and potential for geotourism. In October 2022, he, along with a team of geologists from India, the USA, Bangladesh, and Nepal, visited the park and expressed excitement at showcasing the site to students.

Renowned geologist and former officiating director BSIP, Prof M Sharma worked extensively on these peculiar structures known as stromatolites. Detailed studies yielded extensive cyanobacterial fossils.

He said that these stromatolites were first discovered by J B Auden of the Geological Survey of India in 1933.

“The discovery of akinetes in the stromatolites help us understand the mechanism evolved by these fossils in adverse environments,” said Prof Sharma.

Geologist Prof BP Singh and Prof Umashankar Shukla, department of Geology, BHU, also say that these fossils were discovered by JB Auden in 1933. His discovery drew the attention of geologists to these fossils and research and study on them started. In later years, several geologists and scholars of geology visited the fossils site and researched them.

Getting the park into Unesco World Heritage List

Recently, the department of tourism has initiated efforts to include the Park in Unesco’s World Heritage Sites by 2026. UP tourism minister Jaiveer Singh and additional director of UP Eco-tourism Development Board, Prakhar Mishra, visited the park and stated that a detailed report is being prepared to be submitted to the government of India for inclusion in the tentative list of heritage sites. The final dossier, to be sent to Unesco in Paris, is expected to be ready by 2025.

The Park is currently managed by the Kaimur forest range in Mirzapur, according to a senior official from the department of tourism.

The tourism minister said that the forest department, Banaras Hindu University and Drona, an institution specialising in preparing dossiers, have already examined the geological importance of the park and its heritage as per international standards.

Recently, Jaiveer Singh claimed that the process of getting the park included in the Unesco world heritage sites has begun. As part of it, detailed discussions are being held with Tim Badman, director of World Heritage Team at IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

The tourism minister said that the IUCN is an international organisation that works in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Established in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.

Singh said that IUCN is emphasising the need for greater representation and focus on nature conservation at the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee. The Committee will deliberate on potential sites for inclusion in the World Heritage List and decide on the conservation and management actions needed to safeguard World Heritage sites in danger. More than 2,500 delegates from over 150 countries are participating in the event. The World Heritage Committee meeting began on July 21 at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi and will continue till July 31st.

Singh said that Badman, an expert in geology and subject enthusiast, is keenly interested in getting the park included in the World Heritage List. Badman is in India to participate in the 46th World Heritage Committee meeting currently going on in Delhi.

A team of officials of Uttar Pradesh Eco Tourism Board held a meeting with IUCN experts, including Tim Badman, in Delhi, to get the Park listed in Unesco world heritage sites. They said that the meeting had been positive. OSD of Uttar Pradesh Tourism, Akash Priyadarshi; retired IFS and former Director, WII, VB Mathur attended the meeting.