The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : GSI to open doors for public

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007
ePaper

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

GSI to open doors for public

Staff Reporter

200 scientists will be available to answer queries on November 15 and 16

PHOTO: NAGARA Gopal

Nature’s marvel: The rock garden at Geological Survey of India, Hyderabad. —

HYDERABAD: Consider these facts. Kimberlite is the only rock formation on the earth that hosts diamonds; 5 grams of gold from a tonne of quartz is worth mining; Hippos now seen only in zoos once roamed about the Indian wild; Saligramam, the venerated rock is the fossilised remnant of an extinct marine animal species.

These and many more facts about ‘Mother Earth’ are waiting to be shared at the Geological Survey of India which is throwing its consecrated portals at Bandlaguda open for general public on November 15 and 16, with an aim to escort the IT-saturated generation from bytes to barytes, pen-drives to palaeontology and from Random Access Memory to the imprints of time immemorial.

Earth-related topics

“The purview of Geological Survey of India covers all earth-related topics. Basic information for any project, whether related to irrigation, coal, oil or groundwater, is obtained from GSI. It is the first time we are opening doors for the general public. Please visit us, we will not disappoint you,” urged GSI Southern Region’s Senior Deputy Director General Ajit Kumar. Visitors can look forward to demos on geological and geophysical surveys, film shows on diamond and gold mining and sale of maps/publications. A model GSI field camp will give insights into the tough field-life of a geoscientist, he told presspersons on Tuesday.

There is also a geological museum, rock garden, lab corridor and various wings such as palaeontology, petrology, photo geology and remote sensing, gem testing, geochemistry, geophysics, drilling, surveying, digital map-making, etc.

Some 200 scientists will answer queries. Interested persons, in fact, can visit GSI again by fixing an appointment with the department concerned, said Mr. Kumar. He offered to sponsor guided trips to places of geological importance for student groups.

Mr. Kumar had also good news for the geology post-graduates and research scholars as recruitment process for 600 officer posts would commence shortly. Of these, about 100 would be for the Southern Region. He also revealed GSI’s plans to acquire a helicopter for carrying out air-borne mineral surveys.

Premises will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free transport for the visitors will be provided from Nagole and Kamineni Crossroads. For more details, contact K.R.K. Prasad, Director, Earth quake Geology Division at 98491 84043 or 9490315463.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail