Harappan site evacuees to be rehabilitated

Deepender Deswal

The Development and Panchayat Department will construct houses for the residents of Rakhi Shahpur and Rakhi Khas villages (jointly known as Rakhigarhi village) who are living atop the Archaeological Survey of India protected Harappan site in this village in Narnaund subdivision of Hisar district.

A total of 152 houses will be constructed for the villagers, who will be displaced, on the land allotted by the Rakhigarhi village panchayat. The Public Works Department wing of the Development and Panchayat Department has floated tenders inviting bids for the construction of houses, which will be completed in one year. The project will cost about Rs 4.65 crore to the state government. 

Massive encroachments for construction and agricultural activities have been posing a threat to the site. These residents have encroached upon the ASI protected land (mounds number 2, 3 and 5) belonging to the Harappan era in the village. The Global Heritage Fund (GHF), an international organisation working for the protection of endangered sites in the developing world, had included Rakhigarhi in the list of Asia's 10 most significant archaeological sites facing irreparable loss and destruction.

“It is one of the largest and oldest Indus sites in the world that is endangered due to development pressure, insufficient management and loot,’ the GHF report stated. 

The state government has reclaimed the encroached upon land nearly nine years after the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed it to remove all encroachments from the protected site. The High Court had issued a series of directions to the government in this matter. 

The district administration has also carried out a drive to remove encroachers who were temporarily shifted to other locations in the village. 

Vajir Singh, a villager, says that the displaced families are relieved that they will be rehabilitated in the same village. “The administration has assured us that the Lal Dora will remain intact and encroachments being removed are outside the Lal Dora. The mounds are deemed as ‘shamlat’ land of the village, which has collective ownership,” he says.

It’s important from tourism point of view to maintain the existing habitation in our village. “Tourists will get a glimpse of two civilisations — Harrapan as well as present — during their visits,” he says. It will be interesting for archaeology scholars to compare both civilisations that are separated by around 5,000 years. 

Banani Bhattacharya, deputy director of the state Archaeology Department, says that the site has been declared as the largest Harappan settlement in the Indian subcontinent. The site originally spread over seven mounds (around 224 hectares) and two newly discovered mounds (8 and 9) make the expanse of the site bigger to over 350 hectares, making it the largest Harappan settlement; larger than Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. 

“Rakhigarhi represents the chronological sequence from early to late Harappan civilisation starting from 4th/3rd millennium BC to second millennium BC. The evidence of structural remains, cultural material, manufacturing, drainage system etc is found through all seasons conducted by the teams of archaeologists led by Dr Amrendra Nath of the ASI (1997-2000 seasons) and Dr Vasant Shinde of Deccan College, Pune, (2014-2016), respectively. Burials, craft manufacturing, granary, seals, grave goods, copper metallurgy, and pottery are among the greatest discoveries at Rakhigarhi,” says Bhattacharya.

Anguished at the pathetic condition of the protected monuments in Haryana and Punjab, the High Court on a civil writ petition on October 4, 2008, had directed the Deputy Commissioners-cum-Collectors of the districts concerned to retrieve the land from the encroachers. It had also directed the ASI to repair and renovate all protected monuments and file a compliance report to the court by September 30, 2009.