Mawshun (Indo-Bangladesh border) Aug. 8: The Riwar area in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district has added another feather to its tourism cap with the discovery of a cave at Mawshun village, close to Asia's cleanest village, Mawlynnong.

Mawshun, on National Highway 40 (the Shillong-Dawki road), is about 67km from Shillong.

The cave was inaugurated today by former minister and Pynursla constituency MLA Prestone Tynsong in the presence of tourism officials, developers of the cave, some guests from Mumbai and Guwahati, and villagers. He rubbed a lime on a log, the traditional way of inauguration, before entering the cave.

The newly found cave runs 100 metres from the entry to exit points. The short cave offers natural beauty to visitors with water flowing in certain parts and forming small ponds inhabited by fish and other aquatic life. It is, however, yet to be properly developed and visitors have to walk about three minutes on a rough path to reach it.

Taking their adventure a step further, the visitors flocked to Shnong Pdeng village, 30km from the cave, and crossed a suspension bridge over the Umngot river as well as the crystal clear, deep blue water of the river that flows down to Bangladesh.

The Riwar area, located on the southern slope of East Khasi Hills district, has a host of exotic spots, including the famous Mawlynnong village, and, just a stone's throw away, the living root bridges at Riwai village, which attract national and international tourists.

Tynsong said Riwar has immense tourism potential and discovery of the natural cave would further attract visitors. "All this while, tourists came to see Mawlynnong and the living root bridges but now they will also spend time visiting the cave," he said.

Saying that the tourism industry is like a "diamond" which can transform people's livelihood, Tynsong urged the villagers to welcome visitors, work together to uplift the area and come up with ideas which would boost the local economy. "We must ensure that tourists spend not only time but money too when they visit our beautiful tourist spots," he said.

He urged local youths to undergo training in the hospitality sector.

The inflow of domestic tourists over the past 10 years has risen from 4.04 lakh in 2006 to 8.39 lakh last year. The number of foreign tourists has increased from over 4,000 to nearly 8,500 during the same period. But the increase in tourist flow has not brought financial gains for the locals as most tourists come in hordes in Assam-registered vehicles. Locals, who run eateries at the tourist spots, do not benefit much as the tourists bring their own food. Instead, they leave the place littered.