Jaipur: A 3-km diameter crater in Baran district, estimated by geologists to have occurred some 150 million years ago due to the impact of a meteorite, has been notified as a conservation reserve (CR) by the forest department.
Spread across 3,808.84 hectares, the reserve forest will now be the 22st CR in Rajasthan and will be protected under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) of 1972, making it mandatory to get clearance under the Forest Conservation Act, 1990, and the approval of the State Board of Wildlife (SBWL) and National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) for any development project within the area. Tourism and related activities can also be regulated in the CR.
DFO Deepak Gupta said, “The crater has already been declared as a World Heritage Site. After CR is notified, efforts will be made to protect the area and make Ramgarh crater an international tourist destination. It’s already in the proximity of world famous Ranthambore and Kuno National parks.”
A forest staff said wild inhabitants of the thick forest on the crater premises include a leopard, a wild cat, a hyena, a wolf, a mongoose, a bat and a wild boar. It also attracts a large number of winter migratory birds between November and March.
Ramgarh crater was first discovered by the Geological Survey of India in 1869. Since then, several geo-scientists have undertaken studies to ascertain the genesis of the crater.
Experts claim the crater has copy-book patterns of a meteorite impact. In 2018, a team of geo-scientists from GSI and INTACH visited the site to collect evidences of its origin. They said it was likely that the crater was created by the fall of a massive meteorite. India has two more craters: Lonar lake in Maharashtra’s Buldhana and in Shivpuri of Madhya Pradesh. The morphological features of Ramgarh crater is more pronounced than Lonar lake.
Spread across 3,808.84 hectares, the reserve forest will now be the 22st CR in Rajasthan and will be protected under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) of 1972, making it mandatory to get clearance under the Forest Conservation Act, 1990, and the approval of the State Board of Wildlife (SBWL) and National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) for any development project within the area. Tourism and related activities can also be regulated in the CR.
DFO Deepak Gupta said, “The crater has already been declared as a World Heritage Site. After CR is notified, efforts will be made to protect the area and make Ramgarh crater an international tourist destination. It’s already in the proximity of world famous Ranthambore and Kuno National parks.”
A forest staff said wild inhabitants of the thick forest on the crater premises include a leopard, a wild cat, a hyena, a wolf, a mongoose, a bat and a wild boar. It also attracts a large number of winter migratory birds between November and March.
Ramgarh crater was first discovered by the Geological Survey of India in 1869. Since then, several geo-scientists have undertaken studies to ascertain the genesis of the crater.
Experts claim the crater has copy-book patterns of a meteorite impact. In 2018, a team of geo-scientists from GSI and INTACH visited the site to collect evidences of its origin. They said it was likely that the crater was created by the fall of a massive meteorite. India has two more craters: Lonar lake in Maharashtra’s Buldhana and in Shivpuri of Madhya Pradesh. The morphological features of Ramgarh crater is more pronounced than Lonar lake.
