PM mentions about cave explorer Brian Daly in Mann Ki Baat

Shillong, Aug  27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday mentioned about cave explorer Brian D Kharpran Daly while addressing his 104th Episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’.

The PM praised the city resident Daly for his contribution to exploring the caves in the state.

Brian has done decades of work on discovering and popularising caves in Meghalaya.

During his address, the Prime Minister introduced  Brain and said “Friends, I am very happy to tell you about Brian D. Kharpran. He is a resident of Meghalaya and has a great interest in speleology. In simple language, it means – study of caves.” Modi said that  Brian developed the interest after he read several story books and did his first exploration in 1964 when he was still in school.

He informed the listeners that in 1990, Brian along with his friend established an association and through that association he started to find about the unknown caves of Meghalaya. The Prime Minister further said, “Within no time, he along with his team discovered more than 1700 caves in Meghalaya and put the state on the World Cave Map” while also acknowledging that some of the longest and deepest caves in India are present in Meghalaya.

He also lauded Kharpran and his team for their efforts to study the ecosystem of these caves. “Brian Ji and his team have also documented the Cave Fauna and those creatures of the cave, which are not found anywhere else in the world. I appreciate the efforts of this entire team”

The prime minister also urged the listeners to travel to Meghalaya and explore the beautiful caves.

Response of Brian 

“Proud and happy, not just for myself, but for the Meghalaya Adventurers’ Association. It has been a long journey”, Brian said in his response.

He said  around 1100 caves have been explored so far, yielding 537 kms of cave passage.

The next cave expedition will be during February 2024, he added.