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[edit] Fossil village

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Shruti Sonal, Nov 10, 2024: The Times of India

Local administrators have recently held discussions on a ban on sale as well as setting up a museum, Langza
From: Shruti Sonal, Nov 10, 2024: The Times of India

The cold desert stretches on for miles, and the roads are dusty as far as the eyes can see. The only things that grow are wild shrubs that struggle to find any offshoots of green. Amid the barrenness sits a giant Buddha statue overlooking Langza, a tiny village which lies in the lap of the Spiti Valley. “He protects us when the winter comes,” says a middle-aged woman carrying a basket. As soon as she spots tourists, she removes the cover over it and asks them if they want to purchase anything. Inside it are not trinkets or postcards, but something unusual: marine fossils. Each fossil costs Rs 50, but she’s happy to offer a discount for those who buy more than one. In an area where livelihood options are scarce, every rupee (and every fossil) counts. When asked where she found the fossils, the woman simply says, “Earlier, it used to be very easy to find them but now, I have to get them from very far away.”


In Langza — which is popularly known as the fossil village of India — marine fossils dating back millions of years are a popular tourist attraction. From makeshift cafes to signboards, fossils make an appearance everywhere. Their presence amid the high-altitude Himalayan ranges are a reminder of when the snowy mountains were the ocean floor, home to a vibrant marine life. They offer insights into how the Himalayas were born as continental plates thrust out of Tethys Sea about 40 million years ago. Among the fossils found in the region, spiral-shaped remnants of ancient marine mollusks from the late Jurassic era — dating back 164 to 145 million years — are particularly remarkable.


However, an increasing number of tourists are posing a threat to the fossils in the region. While tourists who stumble upon them often pick them up, locals too sell them, despite attempts to ban their sale. Angchuk Takpa, a member of the block development council of Langza’s gram panchayat, says things have worsened in recent years. “After the lifting of lockdown restrictions and improvement of road connectivity, the number of Indian tourists has increased in this area. They often engage in fossil hunting, unlike the foreign tourists who never used to take them away,” Takpa says, shaking his head. To cater to this growing demand, many kids and women in the village have started selling them, he adds.


As climate change-related factors have reduced the snowfall in the region, more fossils come to the surface, leading to more pillaging. “When the snow melts, the mitti below it shifts. As a result, the fossils stuck beneath come up,” he explains. In Lahaul-Spiti, the snow cover area has declined by 18.5%, as per a recent report.


Takpa and other local administrators have held discussions recommending a ban on the sale of fossils. They’ve also batted for setting up a fossil museum in the village to preserve them and display them for informational purposes. After numerous delays, construction on the museum has finally started recently, Takpa says.