Sirsa’s Ther Mound on world heritage panel tentative list

CHANDIGARH: Ancient archaeological site, Ther Mound, in Haryana’s Sirsa city that was denotified from the list of protected monuments by the Haryana government in 2016, is actually a protected monument and archaeological site that has been included in India’s tentative list by the World Heritage Committee since 2015.
This means the Ther Mound continues to be a centrally protected monument under the aegis of the National Monuments Authority and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The site, spread over an area of about 5 km, was removed from the list of protected monuments by the Haryana government in July 2016 based on its understanding that it was a “state-protected” site.
An examination of National Monuments Authority and ASI records has revealed that Ther Mound is included in the list of highly rated monuments and sites in Category II. This list includes protected monuments and archaeological sites that are part of India’s tentative list for the World Heritage Committee. The Category I sites are protected monuments and archaeological sites inscribed on the Unesco World Heritage List. Even in the latest list of the National Monuments Authority updated till 2019, Ther Mound Sirsa falls in Category II of protected monuments and archaeological sites.
There are only 40 Category II centrally protected sites in Punjab and Haryana under the Chandigarh circle, ASI, and their categorisation has been done by the National Monuments Authority. The Haryana government had issued a notification in July 2016 ‘de-protecting’ the Ther Mound on which around 3,500 houses with a population of more than 20,000 people were constructed.
Decision to de-protect mound based on opinion of AG
The decision to de-protect was taken by the then principal secretary to the chief minister Rajesh Khullar after a meeting chaired by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in presence of the then principal secretary (archaeology & museums) and the Haryana advocate general. The decision was taken by the CM’s office on July 5, 2016, on the basis of the opinion given by the advocate general.
The AG had opined that the Ther mound was a state-protected site so the Haryana government had the power to remove it from the list of state-protected monuments and sites. Sources, however, confirmed to TOI that the decision was taken by the CMO to avoid the proceedings of contempt of court case pending before the Punjab and Haryana high court. Interestingly, the CM’s office had also ignored the suggestions that the ASI should be informed before taking such an important decision.
Haryana’s principal secretary (archaeology and museums) Ashok Khemka had on December 4, 2019, informed the Khattar government that the decision taken by the CM’s office to de-notify the Ther Mound from the list of protected sites had been taken on an incorrect assumption. In a detailed note sent to the Khattar government immediately after taking over as principal secretary of the department in December 2019, Khemka had written that as per Clause 2 of the notification dated October 3,1932, the mound was protected directly through central government funds and was under the care of the ASI.
“Therefore, the CM’s order dated July 5, 2016, de-notifying the Mound as a protected monument would have no effect on its status as a protected monument of national importance. The CM’s order is a legal nullity to the extent it seeks to resume the site at the said mound. Rather the CM’s order was a vacuous reversal of something that was a nullity ab initio under the Punjab Act of 1964,” Khemka wrote. The sources, however, confirmed that the file containing these notes is still pending in CMO.