Cuttack, May 21: The district administration has decided to seek a joint inspection by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Odisha State Archaeological Department to unravel the mystery of the tunnel-like structure.

The structure was discovered during road excavation work at Kathagada Sahi earlier this week.

The administration took the decision after a four-member team of the state archaeological department visited the spot today and collected sand, pieces of bricks and unearthed structures for a thorough examination.

Senior officials of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) and engineers of the integrated sanitation project were also present at the site.

"We have also decided to seek assistance from historians and professors of Utkal University to ascertain the nature and importance of the structure," said district collector Nirmal Mishra.

Mishra said only after the team submits its report on the findings, we can say whether it was part of a building or a tunnel and its historical importance.

After a preliminary assessment, the superintendent of the state archaeology department B.P. Ray said the structure appears to be about100 years old as lime plaster was used for its construction.

"Our focus will be to determine the nature of the structure, whether it was an abandoned or unsafe building. So far it does not appear to be a tunnel or a channel for discharging waste water," said Ray. He ruled out the possibility of a tunnel since the existing Barabati fort is some three kilometres away from the spot.

Official sources said the entire tunnel like structure has an entrance having a width of four metres, which was found during excavation work for the Odisha Integrated Sanitation Improvement Project on May 19.

"We had come across the wall and an arch like structure with a small opening during the construction work for laying pipelines and construction of sewer channels. The work was stopped thereafter," said the deputy project engineer Krushna Chandra Parida.

At present it is difficult to assess the structure properly owing to the construction of houses on both ends of the excavation site.

"We want clear information about the discoveryand demand a speedy probe by archaeologists and experts so that the sanitation project is completed soon," said Sambhu Choudhry, a local resident.

Choudhry reiterated that the entire work for the sanitation project stopped after the discovery of the structure.