Shillong: Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded 76 years old Brian D Kharpran along with his team for having discovered more than 1,700 caves in Meghalaya.The individual effort of Kharpran has helped people know the many mistry about the ancient human lives of Meghalaya tribes. PM Modi also urged people to visit Meghalaya’s caves, some of which are among the longest and deepest in the country.
While addressing the people on August 27 in the 104th episode of ‘Mann ki Baat,’ PM Modi said, “ Friends, I am happy to introduce you to Brian D Kharpran. Hailing from Meghalaya, he is passionate about speleology. In simple terms, it is the scientific study of caves. He developed an interest while reading a storybook on caves. In 1964, Brian D Kharpran conducted his first exploration. He was just a school-going boy at that time. In 1990, he along with his friend established an association, and through this, he started to find out about the unknown caves of Meghalaya.”
Praising his relentless effort to discover more caves, some of which are now a major tourist attraction, PM Modi said “Kharpran, along with his team, discovered more than 1,700 caves in Meghalaya and put the state on the world cave map. Some of the longest and deepest caves in India are in Meghalaya”.
Meanwhile, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for acknowledging the contributions of Brian Daly Kharpran. Taking to microblogging site X, CM Sangma wrote, “Thank you, Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi for acknowledging the contributions of Mr. Brian Daly Kharpran to speleology. Bah Brian is Meghalaya’s first renowned Speleologist and together with his team, the Meghalaya Adventurers’ Association are assisting cavers and speleologists from around the world in their research.”
It should be mentioned that Kharpran and his team from the Meghalaya Adventurers’ Association, has so far mapped 537.6 km of caves in the dense forest of Meghalaya.
