The longest cave system in the Indian sub-continent has been discovered in Jaintia Hill district in Meghalaya by an international team of speleologists.  The team found a cave system of 22.20 km long which surpass the previous known record of 21.35 km of another system, incidentally existing in the same district. The linking of the Ksem in Liat Prah cave system to Krem labbit to create a single cave system of 22, 202.65 metres in length. The resulted the longest cave known to date in the Indian sub-continent. This finding surpassed the previous record of the longest cave system the Kotsai, measuring 21.55 kms.

The team comprising 17 members from UK, two each from Switzerland and Denmark, one each from Austria and Ireland and five from India, spent three and a half weeks in the district focusing on the cave areas of Shnongrim Ridge near Nongkhtieh area. Between February 7 and March 1, 2006, the team explored 39 caves, mapped and photographed to discover 15,498 metres of new cave passage. Of the 39 caves mapped, 36 were entirely new with only three being cave systems that were partially explored in previous years.

The Jaintia Hill district has the highest concentration of caves in the sub-continent. The speleologists said that till date the whereabouts of over 1060 caves were known. Of which 629 were explored to yield in excess of 295 kms of surveyed cave passage. Much of the caves found in the Jaintia Hills have impressive river pathways mixed with huge fossil passage. Exploration of these caves has and further will reveal new species of aqua animals. The majestic cave systems in the Jaintia Hills are comparable in size and beauty to any other found elsewhere in the world, putting Meghalaya firmly on the world cave map. However, large scale limestone mining in the vicinity of the caves by private parties for setting up cement plants is a matter of grave concern. The speleologists have highlighted this problem. They have moved to Union Forest and Environment Ministry, State Government and other concerned authorities in an effort to save the precious caves in Meghalaya.

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