Centre will consider restarting excavation at Arikamedu, says Union Minister

Though excavations had been taken up, non-maintenance of the site has resulted in closure of trenches: Meenakshi Lekhi

Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi on Saturday said the Centre will take steps to re-start excavation and development of the archaeological sites at Arikamedu.

“The site is of great archaeological importance to the country. It is an ancient site having wealth of information. I feel sad that the site has been ignored for a long time. Excavations started during former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s time but the subsequent government ignored and non-maintenance of the site resulted in closure of the trenches, she said addressing a press conference here.

“I will get back to Delhi and certainly work out a plan for re-excavation and development of the site. But people residing near the site have to first be sensitised to the need to protect the place by not littering and using plastics inside. I could find a lot of bottles and plastics around. Corrosion also is an issue which has to be addressed,” the Minister said.

She carried out an inspection of the place for almost two hours along with Speaker R. Selvam and Minister for Public Works K. Lakshminarayanan.

Ms. Lekhi, who was here as part of celebrations to mark eight years of Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre, said the NDA government has been able to reach out to the people who have been left un-reached for decades.