Harappan site of Rakhigarhi in Haryana

Syllabus subtopic:

Indian Culture - Salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.

Prelims and Mains focus: about the move and its implications; about Harappan sites mentioned

News: The Centre is moving ahead with its plan to develop Rakhigarhi in Haryana as a tourist hub and set up a museum, and this has got residents in two villages in Haryana’s Hisar district — Rakhi Khas and Rakhi Shahpur — known as Rakhigarhi worried.

About the issue

After Finance Minister announced the government’s plan to fund five on-site museums, including the under-construction museum initiated by the Haryana government at Rakhigarhi, in her Budget speech on February 1, there is excitement and concern here.

All five archaeological sites mentioned in the Budget – Rakhigarhi, Hastinapur in Uttar Pradesh, Shivsagar in Assam, Dholavira in Gujarat and Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu – would be developed into “iconic sites” simultaneously.

The Archaeological Survey of India has started planning the project.

The ASI has been able to get under its control just 83.5 acres of the 350-hectare site that spans 11 mounds, after first taking over the site in 1996, due to encroachments and pending court cases. The site is under ASI protection.

About 5% of the site had been excavated so far by the ASI and Deccan College, Pune. Among the findings, which indicate both early and mature Harappan phases, were a 4,600-year-old female skeleton, fortification and bricks.

Concerns raised by locals

As part of encroachment removal, 152 households are being shifted to flats. People are anxious about the rehabilitation of homes around mound number four and five.

Source: The Hindu

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