Neglect of natural marvel

A Google search will tell you about ten famous balancing rocks in the world, but these famous ten conspicuously do not include the best in the world that we have in Jabalpur. The great volcanic rock is a wonderful example of neglect. It is sadly neglected by all, the citizens, the local government, the state government and finally the central government. Not many years back the rock was seen from the highway running few meters away from the site, but today I had to search for it. The wonderful natural marvel got surrounded by the mushroom growth of dwellings that seems mostly illegal and if these are legal them I pity the authorities who permitted these structures.

Mighty Narmada through Marble Rocks

Jabalpur has a great history. The city has been bestowed with many wonderful marvels by the nature. The mighty river Narmada flows through the marble rocks, a marvel that’s not seen anywhere in the world. The depth of Narmada at certain points in these ravines is up to 600 feet and distance between the two banks is as little as a monkey could jump over, thus called Bandarkud. Little away is a spot where the river is just five feet deep but makes a huge noise, proving the proverb, shallow water makes more noise. Down the stream is Indian version of Niagara, our own Dhuandhar, a mighty wonderful waterfall in central India.

Dhuandhar Fall

Wild Flowers

Few miles away from this mighty river that flows through the marble rocks, we find a range of volcanic rocks and it is in this area the great balancing rock is situated. Today one has to really struggle to find the place. There is no signage that will guide to this marvel. I stopped over a dozen times to check on the location. I moved little ahead of the rock through the hilly terrain and turned back when I realized that I had left behind the spot. The reason is total neglect, houses in the neighbourhood and no significance given to this magnificent marvel made me miss the place at first sight. I parked the car and entered the place through a trap passage. The wild flowers at the entrance were very pleasing but had I not been careful my next step would have landed on human excreta. What a sadistic pleasure the persons might be getting in turning this marvel in to a public toilet. I was at the rock almost after thirty-five years. I was so pleased to see the place again.

Balancing Rock. Inset: Contact area

The upper balancing stone is inclined at about thirty degrees and the surface area of two rocks in contact with each other is about few square inches. No other balancing rock in the world has this small contact surface area. The earthquake of 6.5 magnitudes on Richter’s scale that rocked Jabalpur in 1997 had no impact on this balancing rock. I tried to get more information about the rock from residents in the surrounding area but they were blanker than me. May be they were the migrants in the area from other parts of the country and had encroached the land. Even on the net hardly any information is available in details about this natural marvel.

The size of this rock is huge and the top balancing rock must be over 18 feet in height. There was no way to measure its girth and no one knows what might be the weight of this rock.

Balancing Rock

I tend to call this marvel a neglected one as no one seems to be interested in preserving and properly maintaining the place. There is no marketing of this great marvel. One spends USD 10 just to see how a coconut is chopped in Hawaii or USD 15 to see Bandar ka Khel in Miami. Walk tour of downtown London about Jack the Ripper for GBP 25 or a SGD 35 worth night safari in Singapore is marketing. I don’t want to criticize or challenge them. These may be good in their own way, but we have something that is far better, it’s natural and not manmade. Why can we not market this marvel and the mighty Narmada? Out of the top ten balancing rocks, none can come closer to the Jabalpur rock. The nearest rival can be the Balancing Rock in St. Mary's Bay on Long Island, Nova Scotia or The Golden Rock (Kyaiktiyo), perched atop a cliff near Yangon. There are many balancing rocks in Zimbabwe, but all these are poor distant cousins of Jabalpur rock.

Mighty Rock

I know there is no use to plead or demand a better status for this marvel with any authorities. Had it been smaller is size it would have been stolen buy now. All I desire that we should propagate for this marvel, we should visit the site, tell our friends and relations to take a vacation to visit this place. More traffic to this place can only wake the sleeping administration. My only fear is when the traffic increases, before the administration wakes up, touts and unscrupulous elements may wake up fast and make it difficult for the tourists. The place needs be beautified, cordoned off, and protected, it’s a marvel and pride for    India.

Can my young MBA friends, especially from Jabalpur and around, take the lead to market this marvel and of course start their own business venture in tourism industry. It’s a gold mine.

(My recent visit to Jabalpur in mid March 2013 made me think about this neglect and thus this blog. The purpose is not to criticize any individuals or organizations [there is no point], but to do some introspection so that this marvel can find a place in world tourism map. Please share this blog. Thanks)