Land grabbers advance, but there's hope in Orissa high court hearing for Sisupalgarh

BHUBANESWAR: There's hope yet for Sisupalgarh, a heritage site dating back to 350 BC on the outskirts of city, which was buried under government apathy and concrete houses and pushed to the brink of oblivion.
Orissa high court has fixed July 31 to hear a PIL on Sisupalgarh, which has rekindled hope among historians and conservationists to save whatever is left of the historic ruins.
The state chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art Cultural Heritage (Intach) had filed the PIL in March 2007. Over the years, several notices were served on the state government and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to respond to the petition, but in vain.
"There are 10 parties in the case, including chief secretary, secretaries of revenue, urban development, culture, ASI, Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) etc. We don't know whether or not they will dodge the issue this time. But land grabbers are gobbling up what is left of Sisupalgarh. Unless there is judicial intervention, it cannot be saved," said Intach state chapter convenor A B Tripathy. Sisupalgarh bears a special significance for historians and researchers, because not much is known about the place that was the seat of power of the ancient Kalingan kingdom that Ashok invaded in 261 BC.
King Kharavela of the Chedi dynasty, an important ruler in Odisha history, ruled from this place as his capital. The first excavation of the site was conducted by famous historian B B Lal in 1948-49, which brought to light traces of an impressive fort, which, according to historians, was built over several centuries with additions, alterations and various fortifications.
A gold coin, said to be of 3rd century BC, one silver coin, 14 lead and 15 copper coins were also recovered. A group of 16 monolithic laterite stone pillars stand mute spectator to Odisha's great historical past as land grabbers steadily advance, building concrete structures. In 1950, the state government had handed over 563 acres of the area to the ASI. "But the ASI did not take interest in taking possession of the site, nor did the state government press for it," Tripathy said.
He said that to a recent query, BDA had clarified it had given no permission for construction of houses at the historic site. "In 2001-2002, chief minister Naveen Patnaik visited the place. We have since taken up the matter with him the save Sisupalgarh several times without much encouraging response," he said.