The prospect of green granite in its vicinity has drawn an ancient rock near Thiruvananthapuram to the epicentre of a fierce debate between the commercial lobby and conservationists.
The prospect of green granite in its vicinity has drawn an ancient rock near Thiruvananthapuram to the epicentre of a fierce debate between the commercial lobby and conservationists.
Called Pandavanpara, the stone-a typical Neolithic rock shelter with unique pre-historic engravings on its facade-has forced a review of public priorities. The question now is whether the Kerala government should protect the site from commercial exploitation and risk the livelihood of scores of families who survive on wages earned from quarrying. Incidentally, the government had declared the site at Peringadavila, 30 km off the city, as an archaeological asset following its discovery in 1979.
But the state's current reaction betrays the difference of opinion in its ranks. The department of mining and geology, the licensing authority, permits quarrying in the area under the provisions of the Kerala Minor Minerals Concession Rules, 1967. Unless these rules are violated, mining operations in the area cannot be stopped. But the district collector sought a ban on commercial activity on two grounds: that it was taking place in a protected area and that such operations posed a threat to buildings in the neighbourhood. The Kerala High Court overruled the collector on both counts.
But the courts are yet to decide the ownership of the land in question. Locals claim to be in possession of title deeds to the site on which the stone stands, while government registers list it as state property.
The Kerala government was less than adroit in handling the situation from the time the archaeological discovery was made. The trouble began when the government issued a notification declaring the rock and 1.25 hectares of the surrounding land as protected area. Locals questioned the legality of the state takeover since the government had overlooked acquisition procedures and title deeds in their possession. The authorities had argued that no objections were received prior to its notification declaring the rock and the adjoining tract of land as protected area. Even as both parties await a legal verdict on the ownership, vandals have desecrated the monument by disfiguring the engravings which constitute priceless prehistoric rock art.
The threat to the monument notwithstanding, the locals, who form the workforce engaged by mining companies, are vehemently opposed to any move limiting commercial activity. They keep visitors away from the site while their employers leave no stone unturned in protecting their business interests. The granite companies aren't losing sleep over the negative publicity or even the recent statement in the assembly by cultural affairs minister T.K. Ramakrishnan reiterating the government's commitment to protect the site. "We have sunk Rs 2 crore into our operations," says Peter, a contractor with Standard Industries, a mining company active in the area. "We have to pay a royalty of Rs 4,000 per cubic metre to the government. We provide jobs to the locals. It's only fair that we protect our investment," he says.
The business is, admittedly, lucrative. Prospective buyers, mostly from Europe, come to the site to earmark stones of their choice. The rocks are cut into slabs and transported to Tuticorin port in neighbouring Tamil Nadu from where they are shipped abroad. Slabs costing Rs 22,500 at the purchasing point are sold in European and North American markets at three times that rate. Workers at Peringadavila earn Rs 110 for a nine-hour man-day.
Archaeological experts, trapped in the crossfire between the government and the mining lobby, are anxious to move on from where they left two decades ago. Director of marine archaeology Padmanabhan Thampi observes: "The site awaits excavation. The archaeological value of Pandavanpara is immense. This rock shelter is a typical neolithic monument coinciding with similar sites discovered in Germany."
M.G. Sasibhushan, archaeologist and director of the state literacy mission, sums up the situation: "The specialist sees the archaeological value of the rock. The contractor sees the commercial value of the granite." And the advantage rests with commerce if the deafening drone of the drilling machine and the nonchalance of its operator amount to sufficient evidence.
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