BHUBANESWAR: Sisupalgarh is facing a slow but sure death. Neither is the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) serious about excavating remains of the 2,500-year-old fortified settlement nor is the State Government in protecting the site from rapid urbanisation. Though a protected site, there is no conservation plan for it yet.
Towards 2012-end, the then ASI Superintendent of Bhubaneswar circle AK Patel had announced that they would move the ASI’s Central Advisory Board of Archaeology (CABA) to excavate Sisupalgarh on the outskirts of the city. However, excavation proposals were sent for Suabarai village in Puri district and another site near Khurda last year but that for Sisupalgarh was not put forth.
Apparently, Suabarai which was recently excavated, is located to the south of river Daya and is very close to the remains of Sisupalgarh fort.
Similarly, there has been no headway in the land status report for areas in and around Sisupalgarh that the State Government had asked Khurda administration to prepare last year prior to framing of a permanent conservation plan of the site. As several illegal structures are coming up around the protected site, this report would have been used by the Government to recover land violating conservation laws and stop land transfer in future.
The site, representing a well-planned city, was first excavated by well-known archaeologist BB Lal in 1948-50 in collaboration with the State Archaeology wing. The area was spread over 562.68 acres of land, but today only 0.775 acres remain under ASI’s control. While 40 to 45 acres is under State Government, the rest are private land holdings.
More than 2,000 buildings have come up inside the fort area, violating norms of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2010. Many more structures have come up within 100-metre radius of the site, particularly the 16 pillars of Sisupalgarh.
Archaeologists alleged that the ASI failed in taking up the matter at the ministry level to stop encroachment in coordination with the State Government.
Deputy Director of ASI Jeevan Patnaik said while west and north portions of the site were excavated, the east and south parts need to be studied. “The situation has worsened to an extent that people now do not even seek permission from the ASI or Bhubaneswar Development Authority before constructing houses in Sisupalgarh. Besides, the State Government is not showing any interest in making the land available for excavation,” he said.
Culture Secretary Arvind Padhee said the department will seek a fresh report from Khurda administration on the land encroachment status of the site.
Though several programmes were announced in the past to protect the ruins, nothing materialised. A few years back, an industrial house had proposed to build a `174 crore archaeology park inside the fort, but the plan was given up when the company found that land acquisition would cost `200 crore.