Buy excavation site at Keezhadi: Madras HC

The petitioner, Kanimozhi Mathi, from Chennai, had stated that the area of Keezhadi is spread across 110 acres but till now only one acre of land has been excavated. So, she prayed the Court to continue excavation in all the 110 acres and set up a museum to preserve the artefacts at the same place.

When judges KK Sasidharan and GR Swaminathan heard the petition, the petitioner argued that Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) should make sure that rain water does not enter the trenches and the artefacts are properly maintained.

However, Superintending Archaeologist, Sriraman, said that the excavation was being carried out on a private land and as the third phase of excavation ends on September 30 they had to hand over the land to the land owners. Also, Sriraman had said that they had asked the community hall in the village to store the artefacts.

Then, the judges directed the district administration to take steps to hand over the community hall and to provide police protection.

Also, the Judges opined that places like Harappa and Mohenjodaro were not closed after excavation. Similarly Keezhadi should also not be closed and so the Central government should take steps to pay compensation to the land owners to buy the land from them.