Budget 2020 allocated Rs 3,150cr to develop 5 archaeological sites into “iconic” ones with museums. TOI does a ground check
In villages across Haryana, heaps of dung cakes drying on farms are a common sight — even on protected land that’s among the largest Indus Valley sites. At Rakhigarhi in Hisar, bullock carts, tractors and cars traverse the ground beneath which remains of an entire civilisation — dating back to 6500 BCE — lie buried. Despite being an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) site since September 1996, encroachments have grown. The 550 hectares has nine mounds; two are occupied by 200-odd houses and two serve as farmlands. Dung cakes dot the compound of a tiny ASI office.
Wazir Chand Sarohi, 60, who has been working to preserve the site for four decades, said the apathy of authorities was responsible for the present condition. “Villagers were illiterate, not aware of the importance of the site, but wasn’t it the duty of authorities to spread awareness? The delay has caused huge losses to the heritage. But now that the Union government has decided to revive the area and construct an on-site museum, it would change things,” Sarohi told TOI.