Hisar: Mounds of cow dung, overflowing drains, filth and garbage, encroachment and cattle. That’s what greets visitors who come to Rakhigarhi, the largest and one of the most important sites of the ancient Harappan Civilisation. The 5,000 year-old site in Haryana, just 170 km from Delhi, has become a graveyard of promises.
Over the last five months, a parade of politicians from Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini to Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat have made ‘pilgrimages’ to the area. Each time a politician visits Rakhigarhi, they promise to rid the site of encroachments, open a site museum, install proper lighting, and build parking facilities, hostel, and cafeteria for tourism.
Blue sign boards with the words Rakhigarhi Iconic Site dot the 25-km route to the site. But instead of a glimpse of one of the greatest civilisations of the world, they are overwhelmed by the stench. The irony is not lost on tourists.
“How can a place of such importance be in this bad a situation,” said Rohit Kansal, who travelled 60 kms from Kaithal with his two other friends to visit the ancient mounds of Rakhigarhi. “Installing walk-through ramps and that too of poor quality is not enough.”
Rakhigarhi, one of the largest urban centres of the Harappan Civilisation, flourished between 2600 and 1900 BCE and spans 500 hectares, nearly twice the size of Mohenjo-Daro. The clues it has offered are of immense value to our understanding of the ancient civilisation. For one, there is evidence of continuous occupation of the site from the Early to the Late Harappan periods. DNA samples too have shed light on the genetic origins of the Harappan people. In the 2020-21 Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Rakhigarhi as one of the five archaeological sites to be developed as iconic sites.
Prominent bureaucrats who have visited the site this year include then-Haryana Chief Secretary Vivek Joshi, ASI Director General YS Rawat, and 16th Financial Committee Chairman Arvind Panagariya. But this growing attention has had no effect on the ground.
CM Nayab Singh Saini and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat visited Rakhigarhi on 19 May and inaugurated three development projects worth Rs 20 crore, which includes a rest house, a hostel, and a cafeteria. The CM directed officials to expedite the construction work of the Rakhigarhi Museum and Interpretation Centre, and ordered that sheds be built at the site so that excavation work can continue throughout the year.
Protecting the site
Plywood ramps built by the ASI that give access to the mounds are the only infrastructure available for tourists. This includes the important mound number 3 where the ASI unearthed a complex Harappan settlement with evidence of a well, ancient mud-brick structures, a mud-brick stadium, and even a water storage area.
Installed just last week, the ramps function like walk-through platforms along the excavation site.
“Earlier, this area was open and people would come close and view it, which could damage the site,” said a senior ASI official. “The pace of work on the ground is not being done at the speed at which officials, ministers, and chief ministers are visiting Rakhigarhi”.
The ASI had earlier erected a white colour shed over a section of mound number 3 under which lies an excavated drainage system from Harappan time. But after a recent spate of rainfall, a large part of the site got soaked in water, which was evident from the wet soil. The ASI plans to build another walk-through ramp around the stadium found during the excavation by Sanjay Kumar Manjul, Additional Director General of ASI. This is the first confirmed stadium of Harappan time. Currently, the stadium area is covered by tarpaulin sheets.
Incidentally, Mound 3 was where the skeleton of a 4,600-year-old woman was found. Her DNA when tested found no trace of the R1a1 gene or Central Asian ‘steppe’ genes, loosely termed as the ‘Aryan gene’.
“I have heard about the many antiquities unearthed from this site, but nothing is displayed here. The site museum should open soon so that all antiquities and important findings are kept here for tourists like us who travelled several kms to reach Rakhigarhi. No one wants to just come to see the empty mounds full of encroachment and cow dung heaps,” said Satish Sharma, a resident of Kurukshetra who visited the site last week.
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Visits and the promises
For years, the ASI and the Haryana government have been struggling to remove encroachments at Rakhigarhi. In January this year, Vivek Joshi visited the site and directed district officials to ensure the smooth relocation of families residing in protected areas.
Five months have passed, but there’s been no visible action on the ground. While the settlement at Mound 3 hasn’t been removed, the ASI recently installed fencing just adjacent to the houses.
The idea is that no one enters the excavation area from the village.
Most of the Rakhigarhi villagers are daily wage labourers who refuse to move from the area.
“We have been living here for many generations but now there is talk of removing us from here. Where should we go with our cattle? The entire family will not be able to survive on the land that the government is giving,” said Rajesh Sirohi, a 40-year-old daily wage labourer who lives at Mound 3.
Sirohi said the government is planning to make this place world class, but questioned if it cares for them. “The pace of work here is very slow. Many years ago, the only major work was to build a boundary wall around the mounds. After that, there is no big push for infra work,” he said.
However, officials who visited the site emphasised the importance of Rakhigarhi and its preservation.
“The site reflects India’s rich heritage. The preservation of the site is important and needed to be promoted at the national and international level,” said Joshi during his visit.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)