The Madras High Court on Tuesday asked the government if it was prepared to conduct further excavations at the Adichanallur archaeological site in Thoothukudi district since the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had not evinced any interest in carrying out the work since 2005 when a site of the Iron Age people, who were buried in big urns, was identified. It sought the government stand by March 6.
In a hearing held through video conferencing on a batch of public interest litigation petitions filed in the Madurai Bench of the High Court, a Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and R. Tharani asked Additional Advocate General K. Chellapandian to get instructions from the government within two weeks. In the meantime, the Director General of ASI was also ordered to state in clear terms its decision on carrying further excavations at the site.
Expressing displeasure over the way in which the ASI had dumped the site for the last 13 years without any activity, Mr. Justice Kirubakaran told a Central government standing counsel that such inaction should not end up fortifying the allegation of some groups that the Centre was acting against the interests of Tamils. The judge recorded the submission of the petitioner’s counsel T. Lajapathi Roy that further excavations were imperative.
According to the advocate, only a very small portion of the 114 acre site had been excavated so far. He also undertook to inform T. Satyamurthy, who in his capacity as Superintending Archaeologist of ASI was instrumental in locating the site, to submit a report to the State government on the amount of money that would be required to send the artefacts that had been recovered so far to Florida in the United States for ascertaining their age through carbon dating.
Earlier, the AAG informed the court that Deputy Director of State Archaeology Department had written a letter to Mr. Satyamurthy on February 16 seeking details of the funds required and it was yet to get a response from him. He also stated that two policemen had been deployed round the clock for the security of the archaeological site pursuant to interim orders passed by the court last month and that the fencing work alone was yet to begin.
