ALAPPUZHA: At Thyckal in Cherthala’s Kadakkarapally panchayat lies a mound of bushes. A ‘protected’ mound of bushes no less! Actually, the mound is where a 1,000-year-old ship that was unearthed in 2003, currently lies. Neglected over the years, the ship and the land are now covered by wild plants.
“We are not sure whether the ship is still under the water. None has seen it for years. After the archaeology department took over the land, it has been covered in bushes,” said Jackson George, a resident, adding, “The presence of a security guard is the only sign of the site’s takeover.”
He said the government should intervene and take steps to protect the ship and land. “The place should be converted into a museum and people, especially students, should get an opportunity to see the ship,” Jackson said.
The ship was unearthed on private land in the panchayat’s ward 10, nearly 2km from the beach. Agriculture workers first noticed the ship in 1994 while dredging the place for a canal.
In 1999, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) granted the licence for excavation. The work began in April 2002. It confirmed that there was a ship under the sand. After the ship was excavated, historians from across the country and the UK spent days at Thyckal to study it.
The government later bought the one acre of land and in 2007, declared the spot a protected site. It also said the place will be converted into a historical museum. Later, the archaeology department took over the protection of the place.
‘Row delaying preservation’
Archaeology department director E Dinesan said the ownership of the land has been under dispute and the matter is currently under the district collector’s consideration. “The dispute, coupled with the absence of a pathway to the property, are delaying preservation work. Discussions to acquire land for a pathway are on. After this is done, the department is planning to protect the place and the structure,” he said. Dinesan said archaeologists who had carried out the excavation had opined that the the ship’s wood was quite fragile. “So, the department decided to protect the monument,” the director said.