Brahmani natural arch a nat’l geo heritage site

Rourkela: The Geological Survey of India (GSI) recently declared Brahmani Natural Arch in Hemgir forest range of Sundargarh district as a National Geo Heritage site believed to be belonging to the Jurassic period.
After the bill is passed in Parliament, it will be one of the biggest Natural Arches of the country to have the geo heritage tag, said a GSI official.
It was discovered by a team led by senior geologist Saptarshi Mallick of GSI, Bhubaneswar, in 2017. The arch is on top of Chengapahad in Chengapahad reserve forest on the way to Kanika from Hemgir, near Brahmani village and 2.5 km from Kamalgra village. It is present within ferruginous sandstone of Upper Kamthi Formation, which is supposed to have taken place in lower to middle Jurassic age. The development of Arch morphology probably took place after 66 million years, GSI official sources said.
According to geologists, the oval-shaped arch is 30 metres long at the base and 12 metres in height. The alcove is 7 metres high and 15 metres wide.
“The Brahmani Natural Arch has been declared as a national geo heritage site. We have started public awareness in the locality, among the scientific community, to preserve this geo heritage site,” said Asit Kumar Swain, director, GSI, Bhubaneswar.
A team of GSI, Bhubaneswar, headed by deputy director general, GSI, Bhubaneswar, Saibal Chandra Mitra, conducted an awareness camp on June 7 at this site to sensitise villagers of Arjunda, Brahmani and Kamalgra on the proper preservation and maintenance of the natural arch. Divisional forest officer (Sundargarh) along with other forest officials along with the local sarpanch were present.