Scientists from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP) have found 24-million-year-old fossil leaves of the Kevda (Kewra / Pandanus) plant in the Tikak Parbat Formation of the Makum Coalfield in Assam. The fossils belong to the Pandanaceae family. They show that Kevda has existed in the Indian subcontinent for at least 24 million years, which means it is older than human civilisation and predates the final uplift of the Himalayas.