India’s oldest tree fossils site discovered in state

Raipur, November 27, 2012

State’s chief conservator of forests and director State Forest Research and Training Institute (SFRTI) Krishna Chandra Yadav has informed that scientists of SFRTI including him and Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany (BSIP) Lucknow have recently discovered India’s oldest and largest tree fossils site in and around Shankarpur under Balrampur district of Chhattisgarh. 

According to BSIP scientists these fossils belong to lower Gondwana geological formation and are some species of Gymnosperm (that dominated the land vegetation prior to the advent of Angiosperms - the flowering plants of the present of day) which date backs to about 250 million years, i.e. Triassic Period. These fossils are expected to be either of Glossopteris or Araucaria genera, he said.

Senior scientist Dr RC Mehrotra feels that the new-found tree fossils site in Balrampur district should be developed as fossil national park.

“Mehrotra has taken samples to Lucknow for conducting laboratory tests and we hope to find out more about ecology and climate of the region prevailing in dinosaur era. It is very interesting to know how these trees survived drastic changes in weather over million years and became rock solid in state,” Yadav said.

These tree fossils are spread over about 700 hectares area in forest compartments   P613, P 615, P 616 P 617,P627 and in adjoining revenue and private lands in Shankarpur, Bhattidarh, Thadadpahri, Naginjhiria villages around legendary Mircha Pahar (chilli hill) on northern fringe of Tamorpingla Wild life Sanctuary and is about 155 km away from Ambikapur – the divisional headquarter of Surguja revenue division,” he said.

“During the exploration work, the team of scientists has discovered long fossilised trunks up to 15 meter long and six meter wide in well preserved condition. There are six such sites with large pieces in revenue area,” he said.

“The fossil pieces of different shapes and sizes are abundantly present in the entire area at random orientation. Even villagers have unknowingly used these fossils for construction of cattle-proof boundary wall, plinth of houses and wall of water holes,” he added.

Besides Yadav and Mehrotra, the team comprised of the scientists Dr Ram Avtar, Dr Rashmi Shrivastav, Marsibella, Prabhakar Khalko, Vijay Bhusan Kerketta, Alok Bakshi, Jai Prakash, George and local forest beat guards.

Yadav said the new findings could be one of the greatest geo-botanical discoveries of the contemporary period. “The state forest department has started extensive survey and mapping of the entire area for developing it as a geo-heritage site of global significance,” he added.