Himalayan Salt History Origins and Cultural Significance
Origins : British Era : We all know that the British came here to the sub-continent for only one reason and that’s business. That’s why without any delay, they chalked out a plan using tunnel excavation and forced laborers to mine salt on a commercial level. Not only that, but they also renamed the salt mines as Mayo Salt Mines , after Lord Mayo , the Viceroy of India. The men, women, and children were forced to work and later locked inside until they didn’t finish their respective quotas of salt mining. Moreover, 12 men were shot and killed during a protest in 1876. Room and Pillar Concept : The situation improved when the engineer was in charge of the main tunnel. Dr. H. Warth proposed an innovative method of excavation, known as the room-and-pillar method. In traditional excavation methods, the caverns and tunnels were blasted until they either collapsed, burying everyone inside, or simply ran out of the mineral deposits. Conversely, a room-and-pillar method distributes the exca...