BHUBANESWAR: Days after a portion of the western rampart of Sishupalgarh was damaged by land sharks, yet another part of the wall on the southern side has been destroyed and soil dug up from within the protected area of the ancient fortified city using JCB machine.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) filed a complaint in this regard at the Dhauli police station on Wednesday, the third such complaint since March 1. ASI officials said some miscreants have destroyed the rampart in the last two days and even threatened the field officials when they tried to stop them. The JCB is being used during nights.
ASI Bhubaneswar circle head Dibishada Brajasundar Garnayak said almost all the pillar postings used to demarcate the protected area have been uprooted by the miscreants and thrown away. “The matter has been brought to the notice of chief secretary who directed the Culture director and police to immediately intervene. Despite all the directions, the land sharks continue to destroy the little that has remained of this ancient city,” he said. The ASI chief added that once the rampart is broken down, the threat to the existing pillars of Sishupalgarh will only increase.
Meanwhile, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday sought intervention of Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy to stop large-scale mining and earthmoving activities in Sishupalgarh.
“Sisupalgarh is a site of immense historical significance. Immediate action is required to protect and conserve our priceless heritage,” he wrote. The Union Minister further added that the Odisha government may be directed by the Culture Ministry to act immediately on land sharks and stop earthmoving activities, illegal excavations and mining on the ramparts of the protected areas of Sisupalgarh.
Around 562.681 acre of Sisupalgarh mouza was notified as an ancient monument on November 13, 1950 and excavation carried out in 1948- 49. The land which belongs to the state government is a square plan with ramparts (walls) extending up to 1.5 km on all four sides. Government and ASI had last year put up pillar postings around the boundary of the 0.775 acre (within the 562.681 acre). Within this area, 18 pillars of the fortified city stand today.