NELA BILAM, Cherlopalle, 1st
15.183100,78.074200
Description
A flight of steps descends into the 6 m to 7 m wide and 2 m high cave entrance and either terminates (in wet conditions) at a man made platform at the edge of swimming deep water or otherwise (in dry conditions) gives access to a shallow antechamber which splits into two main galleries (about 3 m wide and 3 m high) leading to a tributary network of relatively smaller rift cave passages (narrower than high). In some cave sections remnants of infillings (note 1) were observed (in January 1984) as perched deposits in ceiling vaults but these were found drowned in December 1996. SITUATION: This Nela Bilam is indicated as »Cave« on the Survey of India sheet 57-I/04 (edition 1983) and lies at linear distances of about 3 km approximately north-west of Cherlopalle (N15°10': E078°06') and 5.5 km south-west of Owk (Auk, Ayuku, N15°13': E078°07' on the Banganapalle - Tadpatri road), at the foot of Etipotha Konda (hill) and in the back (above the western shore) of the artificial water reservoir named Timmaraju Cheruvu (N15°10'57”: E078°05'53” Everest 1830). APPROACH: The entrance, of course, is easily found only with the help of a guide familiar with the area. Since the cave is usually drowned by water rising to a level corresonding to the level of the adjacent reservoir, the best season to pay a visit tends to be April, the driest and hottest season. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1885: »… two small caves south-west of Owk, in the south-western part of Koilimikuntla taluk. … The two Owk caves … are full of water in their lower passages as far as we could explore …« (FOOTE 1885: 235). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1962: A relatively »large« cave is found »at the foot of the [Upalapadu] plateau about 1.75 miles [2.8 km] north-west of Cherlopalle« (DUTT 1962b: 552; 1981: 14). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1981: DUTT (1981: 14) refers to a photograph (fig. 12 opposite page 14) but this has been confused as it shows »Potholes in Limestone« which are the ceiling collapse entrances to –>Belum Guhalu. CAVE CLIMATE: The temperature of the water on 18th December 1996 was 29.9°C (GALLETTI & RUGGIERI 1998: 83).
NOTE 1: So far, I have not seen RAVINDRANATH & GANDHI PRASAD (1994a, 1994b) who are said to have reported »subsurface solution cavities [read: conduits] filled with clayey material« (DUTT 1981: 14) from boreholes that were sunken somewhere in the neighbourhood of the village of Owk (Auk, Ayuku N15°13': E078°07') and the water reservoir Timmaraju Cheruvu.
Documents
Bibliography 27/04/2016History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1884.12: Henry Bruce and Robert Bruce Foote paid during the Christmas week a short visit to the two caves near Cherlopalle (FOOTE 1885, p: 235). 1984.01: H. Daniel Gebauer and K. Padmanabhaiah visited, entered and commenced mapping but soon abandoned the survey due to a broken compass (GEBAUER & ABELE 1985: 39-41). 1996.12: H. D. Gebauer, M. Narayana Reddy, Rosario Ruggieri, Werner Busch, Iolanda Galletti, Renate & Uwe Kalmbach, and Vito Santoro found the cave drowned due to untimely rains.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.3 | NELA BILAM, Cherlopalle, 2nd | ||
| 0.9 | UPPALAPADDE TALUS CAVE | ||
| 3.4 | GOLLALERU UNDERCUT | ||
| 9.1 | CHIRUTIPULLI - VEEPAMANI GUHALU | ||
| 9.8 | NELA BILAM, Belum village | ||
| 9.8 | Belum Caves | ||
| 9.8 | BELUM GUHALU | ||
| 10.6 | NAGABUSHI GONDI CAVE | ||
| 12.1 | RAMARAM NAGABUSHIGONDI CAVE 2 |