|
Sites:
Egypt |
Portugal |
Iraq |
India |
China |
Turkey
India: Archeological sites at risk in the Narmada River
valley
Scholars have studied India's Narmada River valley for more than 60 years and
consider it to be one of the country's richest archeological regions. Yet
because of lack of funding and in some cases lack of interest, they have so far
not undertaken significant excavation. That said, experts recently made several
major finds, which included the only hominid ever found on the Indian
subcontinent, dozens of Lower Paleolithic sites, and several ancient temples.
For the past 3,000 years, hundreds of thousands of Hindus have performed a
pradakashina (circumambulation) along the Narmada. This rite involves
walking the entire length of the river up and back along both banks, a total of
some 800 miles. Besides hundreds of historic temples that have grown up along
the river, experts believe the region harbors remains of a wide range of early
cultures.
In 1946, newly independent India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru,
first proposed damming the Narmada to provide hydroelectric power and
irrigation to 50 million people. Since then, work has been underway to design
and build on the river at least 30 large dams, 135 medium-sized dams, and
nearly 3,000 small dams, which are used to channel water into thousands of
miles of irrigation canals. But two of the largest dams—the Sardar Sarovar
in Gujarat state and the Narmada Sagar in Madhya Pradesh—have yet to be
built, and conservationists both in and outside of India have sharply critized
both projects for the deleterious impact they will likely have on the valley's
environment. Also of concern is the plight of 250,000 local people who have to
relocate before the floodwaters rise. And, of course, the two so-called
"megadams" will flood temples and submerge unexcavated riverbanks along the
Narmada. Currently, no plans exist for salvage archeology in the region.
|
|
