MATASULA MINE SHAFTS

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 24/04/2016

Nearly 200 abandoned mine shafts, supposedly 300 years old (SEN & HORE 1981: 16-18), are seen for strike length of more than 2.8 km in N-S direction from the west of Samrod Chotta (N27°07'45": E076°04'15") in the south to the south-east of Maliwas (N27°09'45": E076°04'15") in the north. SITUATION: In the vicinity of Matasula (N27°09'10": E076°04'45" unspecified geodetic datum probably Everest 1830 coordinates, SEN & HORE 1981), which lies north of Jamwa Ramgarh Tal (lake) and about 65 km north-east of Jaipur City (N26°55': E075°49'). CULTURAL HISTORY - Human use / bat guano exploitation: Most of the shafts are rubble filled, but in the southern part of the area some are still used by villagers for collecting bat guano from the floor of the underground workings, which are now dens of wild bats. CAVE LIFE: Bats (Chiroptera).