Geological Survey of India
भारतीय भूवैज्ञानिक सर्वेक्षण | |
Kolkata, West Bengal, India | |
Annual budget | ₹800 crore (US$96 million) (2019–20)[1] |
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Government agency executive |
|
Parent Government agency | Ministry of Mines |
Website | gsi.gov.in/ |
The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency of India. It was founded in 1851, as a Government of India organization under the Ministry of Mines, one of the oldest of such organisations in the world and the second oldest survey in India after the Survey of India (founded in 1767), for conducting geological surveys and studies of India, and also as the prime provider of basic earth science information to government, industry and general public, as well as the official participant in steel, coal, metals, cement, power industries and international geoscientific forums.
History
Formed in 1851 by East India Company, the organization's roots can be traced to 1836 when the "Coal Committee", followed by more such committees, was formed to study and explore the availability of coal in the eastern parts of India.[2][3] David Hiram Williams, one of the first surveyors for the British Geological Survey, was appointed 'Surveyor of coal districts and superintendent of coal works, Bengal' on 3 December 1845 and arrived in India the following February.[2][3] The phrase "Geological Survey of India" was first used on his Dec 1847 map of the Damoodah and Adji Great Coal Field,[4] together with Horizontal[5][6] and Vertical sections of the map.[7] On 4 February 1848, he was appointed the "Geological Surveyor of the Geological Survey of India", but he fell off his elephant and, soon after, died with his assistant, F. B. Jones, of 'jungle fever' on 15 November 1848,[8] after which John McClelland took over as the "Officiating Surveyor" until his retirement on 5 March 1851.[2][3]
Until 1852, Geological Survey primarily remained focused on exploration for coal, mainly for powering steam transport, oil reserves, and ore deposits, when Sir
In 19th century GSI undertook several surveys including
In 19th and early 20th century GSI made important contributions to
On 8 April 2017 GSI began pilot project, with the first ever aerial survey of mineral stocks by GSI, to map the mineral stocks up to a depth of 20 km using specially-equipped aircraft.[16]
The GSI was restructured into 5 Missions, respectively relating to "Baseline Surveys";"Mineral resource Assessments";"Geoinformatics";"Multi-disciplinary Geosciences"; and "Training and Capacity Building", on the basis of the Report of a High-level Committee chaired by Mr S.Vijay Kumar[17] Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Mines of the Government of India.
The superintendents and directors
Sr. No. | Name | Period | Country |
---|---|---|---|
1. | Dr. Thomas Oldham, The Superintendent | 1851–1876 | Dublin, Republic of Ireland |
2. | H. B. Medlicott , The Superintendent |
1876–1885 | Loughrea, County Galway, Ireland |
3. | H. B. Medlicott , The Director |
1885–1887 | Loughrea, County Galway, Ireland |
4. | William King Jr. | 1887–1894 | Anglo-Irish
|
5. | C.L.Griesbach | 1894–1903 | Vienna, Austria |
6. | Sir T. H. Holland | 1903–1910 | Helston, Cornwall, England |
7. | Sir Henry. H. Hayden | 1910–1921 | Derry, Ireland |
8. | Sir Edwin Hall Pascoe |
1921–1932 | England |
9. | Sir L.L. Fermor | 1932–1935 | Peckham, south London, England |
10. | Dr. A. M. Heron | 1935–1939 | British, Duddingston, Edinburgh, Scotland |
11. | Sir Cyril S. Fox | 1939–1943 | - |
12. | Edward Leslie Gilbert Clegg |
1943–1944 | Manchester, England |
13. | Henry Crookshank | 1944–1945 | - |
14. | J.A. Dunn | 1945 | - |
15. | William Dixon West | 1945–1951 | Bournemouth, England |
16. | M. S. Krishnan, First Indian Director | 1951–1955 | Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu |
17. | V. P. Sondhi | 1955–1958 | - |
18. | B. C. Roy | 1958–1964 | - |
See also
- List of National Geological Monuments in India
- Archaeological Survey of India
- Botanical Survey of India
- Zoological Survey of India
- Anthropological Survey of India
References
- ^ "Finance". Gsi.gov.in. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Kumar, Deepak (1982). "Economic Compulsions and the Geological Survey of India". Indian Journal of History of Science. 17 (2): 289–300.
- ^ a b c d e Chakrabarty, S (2012). "Geological Survey of India". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
- ^ Damoodah and Adji Great Coal Field Map Archived 6 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Bavarian State Library.
- ^ GSI Map of horizontal sections 1 & 2 Archived 1 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Bavarian State Library.
- ^ GSI Map of horizontal sections 3 & 4 Archived 1 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Bavarian State Library.
- ^ GSI Map of vertical section 5 Archived 1 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Bavarian State Library.
- ^ Allen's Indian Mail, Vol VII, No 117 London, 22 January 1849, p41.
- ^ Mallet, F. R., 1869, Memoir, Geological Survey of India, vol 7, page 129.
- ^ BALASUNDARAM, M., DUBE, A. Ramgarh, 1973, "Structure, India", Nature (journal), 242, 40 doi:10.1038/242040a0.
- ^ Clements R. Markham, 1878, "A Memoir on The Indian Surveys", 2nd Ed., W H Allen & Co., London, p.189.
- ^ Charles E. D. Black, 1891, "A Memoir on The Indian Surveys (1875-90)" , London , p.168.
- ^ a b Derek J. Waller, 2004, "The Pundits: British Exploration of Tibet and Central Asia," University Press of Kentucky.
- ^ a b Account of the Pundit's Journey in Great Tibet - Capt. H. Trotter, The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society (1877).
- Oxford UniversityPress.
- ^ "In a first in India, GSI to use modern aircraft to map mineral stocks". The Financial Express. 7 April 2017. Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
- ^ "TERI: Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Development - India". Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2017.