PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
A cache of historical weapons was discovered in June 2017 during digging for a road project in a remote village in Tehri district. One would surmise that such a find would have been studied in detail to learn more about Uttarakhand’s history. However, a reply from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), received to an application filed under the Right To Information Act indicates that the department has possibly not conducted a detailed study of the discovered ancient swords, spears, daggers and other items.
Road construction work was underway near the Pepola Dhung village in Tehri during 2017. About 84 historical swords, spears, daggers and other items were recovered in June 2017. More than seven years after the discovery of these items, the ASI is yet to start a study of the discovered artifacts. The RTI reply received by senior journalist Raju Gusain from Dehradun revealed, “The ancient sword, spear, dagger, etc are kept in ASI Dehradun office. No carbon dating has been done as it is technically not possible to conduct it on iron weapons and things. No official correspondence has been made by ASI Uttarakhand circle with headquarters. No final report has been published on the discovered ancient weapons.”
Gusain questioned, “If the ASI does not conduct any study on the historical artifacts, why doesn’t it return it to the villagers? At least the villagers will keep them somewhere and people will get a chance to see them.”
