Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the 104th episode of his monthly radio show ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on Sunday (August 27), mentioned Brian D Kharpran, a Meghalaya resident who discovered over 1700 caves along with his team putting the state on the World Cave Map.
The Prime Minister said that Brian has documented those creatures of the cave which are not found anywhere else in the world.
“I am very happy to tell you about Brian D. Kharpran. He is a resident of Meghalaya and has a great interest in speleology. In simple language, it means – study of caves. Years ago, this interest arose in him when he read several story books,” PM Modi said.
He further said that Brian did his first exploration as a schoolboy in 1964 and set out looking for more caves with his friend in 1990.
“Within no time, he along with his team discovered more than 1700 caves in Meghalaya and put the state on the World Cave Map. Some of the longest and deepest caves in India are present in Meghalaya. Brian Ji and his team have also documented the Cave Fauna ie those creatures of the cave, which are not found anywhere else in the world,” the Prime Minister said.
Appreciating the efforts of his team, PM Modi urged the people to visit the caves of Meghalaya.
According to reports, an international caving project was undertaken in February this year after which 6.6 km was added to Meghalaya’s cave system.
With this, the total cave passage mapped in the state was 537.6 km long till then, according to Brian.
The addition of 6.6 km to its caving system strengthened the state’s claim as one of the world’s top caving destinations.
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