In Union Minister Charan Das Mahant’s quest to explore the prophesied 1,000 tonnes gold at a fort in the Daundia Kheda village in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district, the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) threw excavation rules to wind.
As per norms, excavation at any site in the country can be started only after the approval from the Standing Committee of the Central Advisory Board of Archeology (CABA) of the Union Culture Ministry. The proposal has to be mandatorily forwarded by the State Governments or through it in case it is proposed by a university or research institution.
Also, as per Section 24 of the Ancient Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 and Rules 1959 proposal for excavation at the sites, which are not centrally protected, has to be submitted through the State Governments.
However, while for the year 2013-14, the proposals were supposed to be submitted by July-end, 2013, the proposal for excavation at Unnao got cleared in a hurry just recently following intervention by Union Minister for Food Processing Charan das Mahant who claimed that 1000 tonnes of gold was buried at the site as dreamt by seer Shobhan Sarkar.
But officials at the ASI maintained that no rules were violated as the digging is being carried out at the orders of the DG, ASI who enjoys special powers in ‘extra-ordinary’ cases.
“The DG of the ASI has used his special powers to allow excavation at the sites even when there was no proposal to the CABA,” they said.
However, the officials had no explanation as to why this site was ‘extra-ordinary’ in comparison to many other sites, which are to be explored.
The ASI, which has unearthed 1.9 meter at the site so far since Friday, has recovered pieces of bangles, earthen wares and burnt bricks, but there is no trace of any metal for which the excavation is being undertaken.
The GSI in its report has predicted existence of metal or alloy at the site, as per the Union Culture Ministry which had ordered excavation following request from Mahant.