Excelsior Correspondent
BASOHLI, Mar 15: A historical monument is in danger as Basohli Municipal Committee is illegally digging base of the monument.
This historical monument of Pal dynasty kings is situated on the small pyramid shaped hillock in the centre of the town Basohli, which, it is said was the mint of the Pal Rajas of Basohli State. The monument is situated at a place from where one can have bird’s eye view of the entire stretch and the rural Punjab as well as Himachal Pradesh.
Now the MC Basohli, in order to construct the shops , is digging the base of the small beautiful hillock. In the digging process almost entire portion of the hillock with the monument at the top has been cut mercilessly up to the height from where the monument is hardly 20 feet away from the last cut of the JCB.
Since the monument is standing on the loose soil, there is every possibility of its damage due to the land slide at any time. The matter was brought in the notice of DC Kathua and Director Archeology and Museums of the JK UT.
The DC Kathua in the first instance ordered for stopping the work of excavation which was followed by the Director Archeological and Museums vide his letter number DAMA 1851-52 dated 02-02-2022.
It is pertinent to mention here that the site of digging is hardly 15 feet from the gate of Tehsildar Basohli residence and 20 feet from the office of ADC Basohli but neither of them took the cognizance of the digging in spite of loud sound of the JCB. Moreover it is learnt that the hillock is a state land and measures 2 Kanals.
People of Basohli have requested the Government to save this monument and develop a heritage park on the 200x 35 feet space carved out in the digging process.
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