" Home to one such wonder is a little village called Gulunchwadi, about 100 kilometres from Pune where the lava bridge was discovered 30 years ago. It has now become an important centre for geologists. Spanning about 21 metres with a nine-metre thick roof, the bridge here is unique, as it has been carved out in basaltic rock. Around the world, similar natural bridges have been considered heritage sites, like the Rainbow Bridge of Utah and Natural Bridge of Virginia, USA, and the London Bridge at Port Campbell in Australia.
Vishwas Kale, professor, Geography Department, University of Pune, says, “The bridge might be 50,000 years old. But not many know of the existence of this remarkable structure.” Kale says it was once a high valley, over which a river flowed gently. It has now become a steep gradient due to a change in the earth’s movement attributed to the neo-tectonic activity".
“Inland bridges in igneous and metamorphic rocks are almost absent. The bridge carved out by a stream in the basaltic lava flows is highly significant” says Lalit Kshirsagar, Principal, Maharashtra Institute of Technology. He was among the first to notice the bridge.
As one approaches the bridge, the anonymity around it is striking. Situated on Ane Ghat, the structure remains unknown despite the presence of a prominent Durga temple. Even the neighbouring settlement of Gulanchwadi is unaware of its existence.
thanks to above Indian express article, we went to see this bridge formed of lava, near my village Ale. i didn't know until I read this article. My friend was familiar with this place, but didnt know about its IMPORTANCE. He used to go there for fun and 'crabs'. So after i told him about this article, he said that there is some structure at Ane ghat.(on mumbai-nagar highway, afer Belhe gaon) And then on one rainy morning we went to see this GAMMAT. I was mesmrised to see this huge lava bridge, wow!! it is something else. aamhi tikde kiti wel aa wasun baghatach hoto, war chadun gelo, khekde pakdle(arthat hemant ne), ani bridge chya warchya bajula mast khadkawar basun kumar gandharvanche gaane aikale, wah!! gaane ani lava bridge donhi bhavya!! do visit !!
Please can you jot down the exact way to reach this place from Pune. :)
ReplyDeleteyeah!
ReplyDeleteBy bus :
take a bus from shivajinagar to alephata(90 km frm pune.its on pune-nasik highway). from alephata take any bus that goes to ahmednagar, this spot is in between, ane gaon and gulunchwadi. (near Belhe village,its big village, just for landmark).
if you have vehicle then its easy to reach.
it'll take 2-3 hrs to reach. enjoy!!
From Mumbai:
ReplyDeletetake a bus from kalyan to nagar, via malshej ghat, you can get down at Belhe village and then can take a local vehicle to go to Aane ghat!!