Friday, February 19, 2010

No land acquisition for excavations, KCHR tells Pattanam residents

Residents of Pattanam in Vadakkekara panchayat in Ernakulam district, where archaeological digs have been on for three years, can now take heart. The government has no plans to take over their properties for the excavations to find the remains of a human settlement that dates back to 3,000 years.

In an unusual open letter to the people of Pattanam, the Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR), which spearheads the excavations, says that no property would be acquired for the excavation. Moreover, it offers to pay rent to the owners of land where researchers expect to encounter archaeological finds for the duration of the excavations. Up to Rs.10,000 would be paid to a site, depending on its size, for a month’s excavations. Again, if any object of commercial value emerges from the excavation site, the land owner would be paid the market value of the object.

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