Current Context : The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought a reply from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and others over the deteriorating condition of Varkala cliff, a designated national geo-heritage site.

About Varkala cliff:

• Location: It is a natural formation located in Varkala, a coastal town in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala.
• Varkala was the only place in the west coast of the country where sediments in the Mio-Pliocene age (13 lakh to 2.5 crore years ago) had been exposed.
• The cliff, also known as the North Cliff, stretches along the coast for about one kilometre, towering up to 80 metres above the sea level at some points.
• It is the 27th national geological monument in the country and the second in the State after the Angadipuram Laterite.

Key facts about the Geological Survey of India

• It was set up in 1851 primarily to find coal deposits for the Railways.
• It is headquartered in Kolkata and has six regional offices located at Lucknow, Jaipur, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Shillong and Kolkata. Every state has a state unit.

It is an attached office to the Ministry of Mines.