Department of Archeology expedites further land acquisition in Tilaurakot

Kapilvastu / Feb 14: Since the government declared this archeologically important site a safe monument area, land acquisition has been expedited in Tilaurakot in Kapilvastu.

A cabinet meeting held on January 14 had declared Tilaurakot as a memorial area for the inclusion in the World Heritage Site.

The Department of Archeology has continued land acquisition in Tilaurakot since the fiscal year 2017/18. Ram Bahadur Kunwar, Chief Archeological Officer of the Department, said the process of land acquisition has been expedited to make Tilaurakot a World Heritage Site.

For the current fiscal year, the government has allocated Rs. 140 million for land acquisition in Tilaurakot. According to Kunwar, the acquisition process has been started to acquire 16 houses in Shivgarh in the west of Tilaurakot and 5 bighas of land in its north-west area. So far, 70 bighas of land has been acquired by paying Rs 820 million in compensation. Prior to this, 30 bighas of land in the name of Tilaurakot area has been acquired and 100 bighas of land has already been acquired in the name of Tilaurakot. There is a plan to spread Tilaurakot area in 100 bighas.

According to Kunwar, the land acquisition process will continue at Shivagadh next year. According to the Land Acquisition Act 1977, the land has been acquired according to the price determined by the committee chaired by the Chief District Officer. Similarly, excavation and research works are currently underway in and around the Tilaurakot area for . During the excavation five years ago, about 500 ancient silver coins were found in private land near the Kanthak Stupa.

Likewise, various structures were found even outside Tilaurakot during the geo-physical survey. According to the Department of Archeology, the land acquisition process has been started as per the plan to collect additional information about the ruins found during the excavation outside the Tilaurakot fort wall and structures indicated by the geophysical survey.