Taking a cue from Slovenia, a country in central Europe known for its cave destinations, Uttarakhand is set to initiate its own Cave Tourism Circuit in the Gangolihat area of Pithoragarh where a network of nine underground caves was discovered in September.

Scientists of Uttarakhand Space Application Centre (USAC) recently surveyed the caves situated in Mailchaura, Gupta Ganga, Sailiswar, Vrihad Tung, Mukteshwar and Daneswar areas. Speaking to TOI, USAC Director, MPS Bisht said that the caves are likely to be “thousands of years old although exact details will be forthcoming once we do the area’s geotagging in November.”

He added, “the caves are multi-layered and as tall as 50m with multiple room-like blocks in them.” He further said, “These are natural heritage sites, which we are going to protect and eventually they will be opened for tourists. The central government has already given a nod. Slovenia earns almost 30 per cent revenue through cave tourism. We, too, can generate good tourism income this way.

The caves are tagged as part of a karst landscape, which is a landscape where dissolution of the bedrock creates sinkholes, sinking streams, caves, springs and other such features.

“The karst landscape is considered as one of the planets most diverse, important and rare ecosystems supporting ecological diversity above and below the ground,” said Amit Kumar Lohani, Pithoragarh tourism officer.

Incidentally, Pithoragarh also houses the Patal Bhuvaneshwar, an underground cave temple dedicated to Lord Shiva which draws scores of tourists as well as pilgrims.