Dedicated Freight Corridor Project (DFCP)  an iconic infrastructure initiative by the Ministry of Railways is feared to tangle up with ruins of an ancient civilization of historic importance which has led to tiff between the Railways and the department of Archaeology and Museums, Rajasthan.

The ancient site of Chandrawati, a land spread over 45 hectares in Abu Road of Sirohi district  has some portion falling in the acquisition by the Railways where a rail line is proposed which is a part of the Industrial Corridor for which the Ministry of Railways has taken a huge loan from the Japanese Government.

While the department of archaeology and museums and Janardhan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, Udaipur are half their way on an excavation and exploration work at the historical site, on the other hand the Railways is eager to commence construction of a rail line here.

The said area located to the east of national highway number 27 is presently under the protection of Archaeology department, who is not willing to issue clearance to the Railways to proceed with the construction work. However, the Railways officials express their inability for a change in rail alignment since the land has already been mutated years ago , contracts finalized with a deadline of four years set for the completion of the project. ‘The highway has also been made by destroying the ancient site.

There are remains of a very large fort located to the west of the highway and now we have come to know that the southern corner of the fort, which falls in khasra number 7854/89 and 786/209 will be destroyed while constructing the proposed railway line, said Dr Jeevan Singh Kharakwal, the Director of Chandravati Archaeological Research Project. The fort is a part of ancient Chandravati township, which most probably may have been the residence of the erstwhile rulers.

It has still survived up to a height of 4 meter on the surface with a width of  10 meter. Its surely a very precious monument of our heritage which will be destroyed, Kharakwal said.

Upon taking up the matter with the administration at Sirohi, Jeetendra Soni, the ADM had also written a letter to the Railways asking not to mess up with the land falling under the excavation site to save the heritage site from being devastated further. However, in his recent  letter to Hridesh Sharma, the Director of Archaeology and Museums, R.K. Jain the chief project manager of Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) has expressed inability in the change of rail alignment since it would require new land acquisition for a stretch of 4 to 5 Kms through a complicated process which would further delay the project for another three years.

‘ We stand committed to respect and obey all the statuary provisions for ancient archaeological sites and have instructed to stop all activities in its vicinity till a clearance is granted by the archaeological department’ Jain held in his letter.  However, the former has been asked to collect and shift the remains from the area falling under railway ownership and issue a clearance letter at earliest to facilitate the Railways to carry on with the construction work.

by Geetha Sunil Pillai