The Department of Geology was started in 1962-63 with the admission of students to I B.Sc. Geology. This was the only college in the Malabar area in those days that offered a course in Geology. The growth and development of the Department was a major milestone in the progress of the Government College, Kasaragod. Right from the beginning, students were coming out in University examinations with flying colours. The Postgraduate course was started in 1979 and the Departments is preparing for the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of the PG Course in 2005. Prof. K.P. Ramachandran Nair was the first Head of the Department, Prof. T.C .Madhava Panicker, Prof. R.Mahadeva Iyer, Prof. S.Mohanakumar Prof. M.Rama Sarma, Prof. Harimohan Bhattathiri, Prof. P.Krishnan Nair, Prof. G. Gopalakrishnan and Prof. Sriram were some of the earlier staff members of the department.
Several students of this department have served in various institutions in
India and abroad. Many are working as class I officers in the Geological
Survey of India, Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Indian Space Research
Organization, Centre for Earth Science Studies, Central Ground Water Board,
Various Universities and Colleges as faculty members, Centre for Water
Resources Development and Management, Science and Technology, National
Institute of Hydrology, Remote Sensing Utilisation Centres, Land Management
Departments, Logging Engineers and Geophysicists, Groundwater departments and
Mining and Geology Department.
Dr. M. Vijayanunni, IAS(1969), who was an alumnus of the geology department’s
first batch(1962-1965), passing out with the first rank in B. Sc.Geology in
the then undivided Kerala University extending over whole Kerala from
Kasaragod to Trivandrum,and later selected to the Indian Administrative
Service(IAS),served as district collector of the then Cannanore district
comprising the present Kasaragod and Kannur districts and North Wayanad,and
served in various important positions in the state and in the Government of
India at New Delhi,including as registrar general & census commissioner of
India and additional chief secretary and chief secretary of Kerala. Sri. P.
Balakrishnan, Sri. A. Raghavan Nambiar, Sri. P. V. Sukumaran, Sri. V. K. K.
Kalluraya, Sri. Sreepada Rao, and Sri. K. S. Adiga have worked as Directors in
the Geological Survey of India. Sri. K.T.Vidyadharan is now serving as the
Deputy Director General of the Geological Survey of India in Hyderabad. All
the present staff members are old students of the department.
The department has been of great service to the people of this region. The field investigations undertaken by the M.Sc. students in connection with their dissertation helped to collect the factual data of the hydro geological condition of the region and the environmental degradation created as a result of the implementation of unscientific developmental activities. The department is actively involved in the extension work in connection with the Peoples Planning Programme during the X plan at Panchayat levels. Various awareness programmes are also undertaken. Short term courses, exhibitions, refresher courses for school and college teachers, national seminars etc. were conducted to make the people aware about the need to protect the environment, to stop soil erosion and landslide. The need for sustainable development is given due importance.
The study tours to different parts of the country helped to develop the Geology museum with rare collections of rocks, minerals and fossils. The department undertook research projects funded by STED and DST. Some of the teachers presented papers in National and International seminars.
This is the only college which offers B.Sc. and M.Sc. courses in Geology under Kannur University. It was elevated to a Research centre in 2005.
