The heritage sites in Nirsa block of Dhanbad. Picture by Gautam Dey

Dhanbad, Oct. 3: Those who thought archaeological sites in the district are finally getting their due attention are advised to be as patient as the sites themselves.

Around 12 sites scattered in Dhanbad and Bokaro out of the 154-odd sites in the state identified by the department of art, cultural activities, sports and youth affairs and the archeological survey of India (ASI), were marked as heritage sites in the 10th Five-Year Plan.

Unfortunately, they now await their turn to be conserved in the 11th Five-Year Plan. Only one site has so far received some attention.

These sites, identified by experts for restoration for their archeological importance, were chosen on the basis of certain legends and stories from epics narrating the visit of the Pandavas and Suryavanshi kings.

Last year in June, officials of the department said that a project proposal for the sites would be sent to the ministry of sports and youth affairs in about six months.

Around the middle of 2006, the department had even started collating inputs to prepare proposals, but they got stuck midway for unknown reasons. “Technical aspects were being considered then. Now it would be possible to finalise them only in the next Five-Year plan,” said the department’s assistant director, Amitabh Kumar. After 16 months, the wait for the proposal is still on.

A highly placed official, however, had a different take on the delay. “The sites have not been finalised as yet and so the project proposal has also not been made,” he said.

The sites are located in the Nirsa and Baghmara blocks of Dhanbad and in Bokaro. A temple and a fort in the Poddardih area, a Shaiva temple in Chirkunda and two temples in Pandra and Upchuriya were identified in Nirsa block alone. In Baghmara, Liloristhan, a famous inter-state devotee magnet along the river Katri in Katras area, was also marked.

Besides, a temple of goddess Kali at Katras bazaar, a Shiv temple better known as Burha temple in Jhinjhipahari and Raas temple were some sites in the Baghmara block that interested the department for conservation. The 300-year-old Burha temple of yellow sandstone was the only one that the state beautified through the district’s rural development authority.

But although Rs 7 lakh was spent on it, the ASI is yet to chemically conserve it. Since the ASI had undertaken the conservation work legally, and is technically more equipped, the rest of the restoration work has been left for them.

In Bokaro district, the temple at Alwara and Dwarika Shiv temple of Chandankyari, among the listed are also waiting for some attention.