An excavation site in the state

Ranchi, May 25: The state has decided to rope in the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) to preserve and protect archaeological sites in Ranchi, Gumla, Ramgarh, Chatra and Rajmahal.

To begin with, INTACH — a nationwide, non-profit organisation to protect the country’s vast natural and cultural heritage — will be entrusted with the task of preparing a detailed project report for a single site. If satisfied, the state will ask the organisation to handle 19 more.

“Several states have teamed up with the national, non-profit organisation to protect places of historical importance. We want to do the same. A proposal has been sent to Raj Bhavan and is waiting for the governor’s approval,” said state art and culture secretary R.S. Verma.

Director (culture) P.C. Mishra said the project called for clinical precision. “INTACH will have to work out a plan that will revamp an archaeological site without tampering with its originality,” he said. Once a plan is worked out, the state will appoint a third agency for execution of the projects. “The areas once developed will see tourists. So, we need to make provisions for better infrastructure.”

The state is considering Navratangarh (in Gumla), the capital of Nagvanshi rulers in the 17th-18th Century, as the test site for INTACH. Verma said other important structures that may be covered under the project were Mughal and Raj era monuments in Rajmahal, Tanginath and Nagpheni temples in Gumla, Khukhragarh in Ranchi and some historical relics in Ramgarh and Chatra.

State convener of INTACH S.D. Singh, who happens to be an alumnus of BIT Mesra’s department of architecture, said that the organisation would be more than happy to accept a proposal from the state.

“Things here get delayed for some reason or the other. Protecting Jharkhand’s archeologically important sites was always at the bottom of the state agenda. It is good to see that the administration is finally taking positive steps,” he said.