GEOLOGY- Not in the Armchair

THE recent creation of two new national organisations, one to deal with Mineral Exploration and the other with Groundwater, has once again changed the pattern of geological activities in the country. When these changes are viewed along with the internal reorganisation of the Geological Survey of India, it can be seen that there have been a practically uninterrupted series of changes during the past few years. This proliferation needs to be examined and controlled if the aims and objects are not to get lost in empire-building activities of senior persons in this particular field. Many people are not aware that, apart from the relatively better-publicised public sector concerns which extract and process various minerals, there are government departments which carry out a very large volume of geological mapping, prospecting, investigation and assessment of India's resources underground.