Excavation work begins at Tipu Sultan fort at Feroke

Local activists say officials lethargic in conserving the monument, plan to file contempt plea

The State Archaeology department has begun cleaning work at the Tipu Sultan fort at Feroke in Kozhikode district even as leaders of a local monument protection committee are planning to file a contempt of court petition in the Kerala High Court against the “official indifference” in preserving it.

The cleaning work began on Monday ahead of taking up large-scale excavation in the area in a bid to conserve the remnants left behind by the 18th century Mysore ruler. According to K. Krishnaraj of the department, the Archaeological Survey of India has given licence till September this year to carry out the work. “Right now the wilderness and the bushes around the structure are being cleaned. Large-scale excavation will begin by April,” he said.

The department in October 2020 had conducted a preliminary study and field survey in the area for a month. This followed a Kerala High Court directive in May that year to take “necessary steps” to protect the fort in six months and avoid further deterioration of the monument. The court had also dismissed a writ petition by E. Abdul Gafoor and other owners of the property adjacent to the monument who challenged the declaration of their property as a protected monument by the State government and the Director of Archaeology in 1991.

After the initial survey using ground penetrating radars, over 300 spots with the presence of archaeological elements were identified. A coin pellet mould, copper coins, and parts of British and Chinese crockery were found. There is also a big well with laterite stone steps, small caves, rampart, compound walls, moat, and small wells there. Top soil from these places will have to be removed now before further excavation can be taken up.

However, Jayasankar Kiliyankandi, whose public interest litigation petition had led to the High Court order, told The Hindu on Tuesday that some officials were still helping those who had encroached upon the protected monument. A recent letter from a top official highlighting financial constraints in conserving the property was proof of that, he alleged. They were lethargic in properly implementing the court order, Mr. Jayasankar said, adding that they would file a contempt of court petition in the coming days.