Bhubaneswar, Feb. 6: Historians have urged the state government to take immediate steps to erect barriers around the prime excavated sites at the ancient Sisupalgarh fort.
Sisupalgarh, the famous monument on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, dates back to nearly 2,500 years.
“The city administration should start a heritage cell. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation in Gujarat has started such a cell and it is doing well. Odisha must follow the Gujarat model,” said chairperson of the National Monuments Authority Himanshu Prabha Ray.
Ray, who was here to participate in the international Buddhist conference in Udayagiri, said: “Urban development guidelines on historical monuments must be implemented strictly so that our monuments can be saved.”
She said a survey should be conducted to identify structures that have come up within restricted areas near the monument of national importance. Ray said the Delhi Administration had already proved that resettlement of the people from near Humayun’s Tomb was possible through counselling and involvement of various stakeholders.
“People from Nizamuddin Basti, who were displaced after the development of Humayun’s Tomb, are now working as tourist guides near the historical monument. The responsibility is now of the Odisha government. The authorities should barricade important excavated sites. Later, the fort can be developed as a major site,” she told The Telegraph.Rabindra Kumar Mohanty, professor in the department of archaeology at Deccan College, Pune, said: “Both the Odisha government and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) are at fault. While the land is to be provided by the government, ASI has to file criminal cases against violators. I think the officials are not serious about this issue.”
A senior officer of the ASI said on condition of anonymity: “We are not supposed to give permission to construct houses. So, the state government should take responsibility for the mess. If they provide us land after freeing it from encroachment, we can think about excavation once again.”
