The Salt Mine of Khewra (or Mayo Salt Mine ) is located in Khewra, north of Pind Dadan Khan, administrative division of Jhelum District, Punjab Region of Pakistan, rising from the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It is the largest and oldest salt mine in the world, Pakistan's 2nd largest. It is a major tourist attraction, attracting up to 250,000 visitors per year. His history dates back to his discoveries by Alexander's forces in 320 BC, but began trading in the Mughal era. The main tunnel at ground level was developed by Dr. H. Warth, a mining engineer, in 1872 during British rule. After independence, the Minerals Development Company of Pakistan took over the mine, which still remains the largest source of salt in the country, generating over 350,000 tonnes a year around 99% pure halite. Estimates of salt reserves in the mine vary from 82 million tons to 600 million tons.
Video Khewra Salt Mine
History
Khewra Salt Mine is also known as Mayo Salt Mine, in honor of Lord Mayo, who visited him as the Young King of India. This mine is part of a salt range dating some 800 million years ago, when shallow sea evaporation followed by a geologic movement forming a salt range spanning some 300 kilometers (185 miles).
The salt reserves at Khewra were discovered when Alexander the Great crossed the Jhelum and Mianwali regions during his campaign in India. The mine was found, however, not by Alexander, or by his allies, but by his military horses, when they were found licking stones. Tired of his troop horses also recovered after licking rock salt rock. During the Mughal era, salt was traded in various markets, as far as Central Asia. In the fall of the Mughal empire, the mine was taken over by the Sikhs. Hari Singh Nalwa, Sikh Commander, shares the management of Salt Range with Gulab Singh, King Jammu. The former took control of the Warcha mine, while the latter held Khewra. The salt excavated during the Sikh government is eaten and used as a source of income.
In 1872, some time after they took over the Sikh territory, Britain developed the mine even further. They find the mining inefficient, with irregular and narrow tunnels and entrances that make the labor movement difficult and dangerous. The water supply inside the mine is bad, and there is no storage facility for mined salt. The only road to the mine is on a difficult and rocky terrain. To solve this problem, the government paved the way, built a warehouse, provided water supplies, improved entrances and tunnels, and introduced a better mechanism for salt excavation. Punishment was introduced to control smuggling of salt.
While working with the Geological Survey of India in the 1930s and 1940s, Birbal Sahni found evidence of angiosperms, gymnosperms and insects in the mine thought to have originated from the Eocene period, but Michael Cremo was thought to have originated from the Cambrian period. However, Cremo's opinion is not supported by contemporary geologists.
Maps Khewra Salt Mine
Location
Khewra Salt Mine is located in Pind Dadan Khan Tehsil, Jhelum District. Located about 160 km (100 miles) from Islamabad and Lahore, it is accessed via the M2 motorway, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Lilla crossing while heading to Pind Dadan Khan on Lilla Street. The mine is located in the mountains that are part of the salt range, a mineral-rich mountain system that stretches some 200 km from the Jhelum River south of Pothohar Plateau to where the Jhelum River joins the Indus river. The Khewra Mine is about 288 meters (945 feet) above sea level and about 730 meters (2400 feet) to the mountain from the mine entrance. The underground mine covers an area of ​​110 km 2 (43 square miles).
Production
Estimates of total salt reserves in the mine range from 82 million tons to 600 million tons. In its raw form it contains calcium, magnesium, potassium, sulfate and negligible moisture, with Iron, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Chromium and Lead as trace elements. Salt of Khewra, also known as Himalayan salt, is red, pink, white or transparent. In the early years of British rule, the Khewra mine produced about 28,000 to 30,000 tons per year; it increased to about 187,400 tonnes per year for the five fiscal years ending 1946-7 and became 136,824 tonnes for the two years ended 1949-50 with the systematic work introduced by Dr. H. Warth. Mining production was reported in 2003 to 385,000 tonnes of salt per year, which accounts for nearly half of total stone salt production in Pakistan. At that level of output, the tunnel is expected to last for another 350 years.
The mine consists of nineteen stories, of which eleven are underground. From the entrance, the mine extends about 730 meters (2440 feet) into the mountains, and the total tunnel length is about 40 km (25 miles). Excavations are done using space and pillar methods, mining only half the salt and leaving the remaining half to support what lies above. The temperature inside the mine remains around 18-20 Â ° C (64-68 Â ° F) throughout the year. The narrow gauge of the Khewra Rail Railway Line laid during the English era was used to carry salt out of a mine in a railroad car.
Himalayan salt is the most famous rock salt in Pakistan. It is used for cooking, as bath salts, as salt water and as a raw material for many industries, including the soda ash factory established by AkzoNobel in 1940. Salt from the Khewra mine is also used to make decorative items such as lamps, vases, ashtrays and sculptures, which are exported to USA, India and many European countries. The use of rock salt to create artistic and decorative items began during the Mughal era, when many craftsmen made the cutlery and decorations out of it. Warth introduced the use of a lathe to cut pieces of art from rock salt, as he found it similar to gypsum in physical characteristics.
In 2008 the Government of Pakistan decided to sell seventeen beneficial organizations including the Khewra salt mine, but the plan was suspended. The mine is now operated by Pakistan Minerals Development Corporation, a government department.
Tourism
Khewra Salt Mine is a major tourist attraction, with around 250,000 visitors per year, generating a decent income. Visitors are taken to a mine on a train. There are many saltwater pools in it. The Badshahi Mosque was built in a mined tunnel with colorful bricks some fifty years ago. Other artistic carvings in the mine include Minar-e-Pakistani replicas, Allama Iqbal statues, crystal accumulations that form Muhammad's name in the Urdu script, the Chinese Wall model and one of Mall Road. Murree. In 2003 two phases of development of facilities and tourist attractions were conducted, for a total cost of 9 million rupees. A 20-bed clinical ward was established in 2007, worth 10 million rupees, for the treatment of asthma and other respiratory diseases using salt therapy. The "Visit Pakistan Year 2007" event includes a train safari visit from the Khewra Salt Mine. In February 2011 the Pakistani railway began operating a special train for tourists from Lahore and Rawalpindi to Khewra. To this end, Khewra railway station is being renewed with the help of private companies.
Other visitor attractions in the mine include a 75 meter (245 feet) Convention Center; Pul-Saraat , a pillarless bridge over a 25 meter (80 feet) saltwater pool; Sheesh Mahal (Palace of the Mirror), where salt crystals are pink; and a cafe.
More projects
The Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation established the Mining Survey Institute at Khewra in 1971. The institute conducted a mine survey, organized a mining-related course for miners and has established Khewra Model College and Khewra Women College. Recently miners have won an important environmental case against mining companies for the provision of contaminated drinking water. The water available to Khewra residents has been polluted by salt, coal and nearby mining activities. This case is recognized internationally as important in relation to the relationship between humanity and the environment.
In 2003, when the Government of Pakistan was looking for ways to increase the country's strategic oil inventory to 90 days, PMDC submitted a proposal to use the Khewra mine to hold strategic oil reserves. The scientific report confirmed the appropriateness of this proposal, but it was rejected.
Flood of 2010
In 2010, during heavy rainfall across Pakistan, water from nearby nullah entered the mine, reaching a depth of two feet (60 cm) and blocked the exit, after the mine closed. It then reopens and stays open.
Gallery
References
External links
- Khewra Salt Mining - Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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