'This is how we treat priceless heritage': Fund manager slams preservation woes at iconic Harappan site Rakhigarhi

Devina Mehra, Chairperson and Managing Director of PMS firm First Global, on Tuesday expressed deep concern over the state of preservation of the ancient site in Rakhigarhi. "This is what we do with our real and priceless heritage...all those usually shouting about how great Bharat was are silent when it really matters," she wrote while reacting to a report that flagged preservation concerns in Rakhigarhi. "And of course our present urban planning is still behind where the Indus Valley/Harappan civilization was." 

The Economic Times recently reported that Rakhigarhi, known as the largest Harappan metropolis in the world, is facing significant challenges in preserving its over 5,000-year-old mud brick structures. Despite being earmarked as one of India's "iconic sites" for development, the site struggles with a cumbersome preservation process and inadequate infrastructure, including a promised but non-operational museum.

Archaeologists working at Rakhigarhi, spread across villages in Hisar, have had to re-bury excavated structures due to the rapid weathering of mud bricks, unlike stone structures found at other sites like Dholavira. According to ET, an excavator said, "The rate of weathering of mud bricks is faster than that of stone. We cannot expose them and leave them unlike sites like Dholavira, where there are stone structures." 

"We are burying the stadium we have excavated. We first cover the excavated structure with tarpaulins, then we cover with some debris, then two more layers of tarpaulin and then with mud so that excavated structures are protected from water," ASI ADG SK Manjul told ET. 

Reacting to the report, entrepreneur Sandeep Manudhane also expressed concerns and asked: "Which country treats its historical treasures thus? They dug it up, and now the dug-up remains of 5000-year-old Rakhigarhi are being filled up again, due to difficulty in preservation. Just to remind - this is the oldest metropolis of the world, a pride of the Indus Valley Civilization of subcontinental India. 'Rakhigarhi is crying for help'."

Historian William Dalrymple recently criticised the lack of adequate conservation measures for historic sites in India, citing poor funding of ASI. Speaking to Deccan Herald, he said, "There’s no proper system of listing in India for vernacular architecture. In any other advanced economy, private buildings get graded according to historic value. So if you own a 16th-century palace, you can’t just knock it down and build a car park just because it’s gonna make you rich. But in Delhi, you can. This is an unusual and unfortunate situation."

Dalrymple further said that the ASI is "criminally underfunded". "If historical monuments are not protected, they will be looted and vandalized," he said, adding, "For a country with a government that claims to be a champion of Indian culture, this government has given almost nothing to the ASI to look after the monuments."

"Instead, they’ve started taking monuments out of the list and abandoning them. My strong recommendation to anyone in power is to invest money there so India can reap the rewards of tourism. At the moment, fewer tourists are arriving in India every year than in Singapore."

The ancient site of Rakhi-Khas and Rakhi-Shahpur are collectively known as Rakhigarhi, located on the right bank of now dried-up Palaeo-channel of Drishadvati. Seven mounds are located here. The site has yielded various stages of Harappan culture and is by far one of the largest Harappan sites in India. The site shows the sequential development of the Indus culture in the now dried-up Saraswati basin, according to the Ministry of Culture. 

"For development of the sites and its environs, repairing of boundary wall, pathways, public amenities, solar lights, benches are being provided," said the Ministry of Culture in March 2021. "Excavation is also proposed at the site to showcase the archaeological remains in a holistic manner. In the union budget of 2020 it was announced that Five iconic archaeological sites located across five states will be developed. One of which is Rakhigarhi located in Hissar district, Haryana."