KARIMNAGAR: Barely two days after excavations were resumed at Kotilingala after a 20-year hiatus, problems have cropped up. Local farmers are demanding that they be paid compensation by the Archaeology Department before digging in their fields begins.
Located 35 km from the district headquarters, Kotilingala was the seat of the Satavahana dynasty whose territory extended upto Central India. Haphazard excavations between 1978 and 1983 unearthed 450 coins, gold beads, pottery and decorative art. Facing the threat of submergence by the Sripada Yellampally Project before thorough investigation of the site, it was thanks to Telangana Jagrithi, an NGO headed by TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao’s daughter, Kavita, and other historians submitting memoranda to the Government and the Archaeology Department that excavations began afresh at the 120-acre site.
Archaeology Deputy Director Ramakrishna told TNIE that the main excavations would be taken up in the second week of this month.
Caretaker Bhanumurthy is supervising the works. With the farmers demanding compensation, the Archaeology Department has approached the Revenue Department for settlement of the matter.
Meanwhile, the site has been attracting a good many onlookers.