Lucknow :
The Uttar Pradesh government is working on a plan to get international recognition for the fossil park at Sonbhadra, considered to be the oldest fossil finds in the world. This work will be carried out along with the development of Kapilavastu, Kushinagar and Sharavasti, areas closely connected with Lord Buddha.
Speaking in the Vidhan Parishad on Thursday, tourism minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi said a research team has been formed and a roadmap would be chalked out to promote the fossil park internationally. Members of Samajwadi Party had demanded that the government get UNESCO recognition for the site, as it had recently done for Varanasi.
“The fossil park at Sonebhadra is older than even the Yellowstone National Park in the US. Earlier, I could not have taken action as the area came under the environment department. However, recently an MoU has been signed between the departments of environment and tourism for the development of eco-tourism. We will take up the fossil park under this MoU and soon have a plan in place to ensure international recognition for the area as a heritage zone,” she said. The roughly 25 acre-fossil park in Salkhan is believed to be more than 1,400 million years old and is located 12 km from Robertsganj, the district headquarters of Sonbhadra.
The fossils were reportedly first discovered in the 1930s but the area was designated a fossil park only in 2002. Fossils of algae and stromatolites have been discovered in the area, adjacent to the Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary. A similar fossil park was discovered a few years later close to the one in Salkhan, in Badagaon village under Chopan Vikas Khand. This year, said Joshi, Rs 89.60 lakh has been sanctioned for various development work to be carried in and around the fossil park. She said the Centre had sanctioned Rs 99 crore for a project to develope tourism in areas closely linked with the rise of Buddhism, namely Kapilavastu, Kushinagar and Shravasti.
Outlining works that were already going on, Joshi said the area would be developed as acircuit that would promote tourism in the entire region.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Lucknow News> Civic News / TNN / December 22nd, 2017