Since from Sunday February 19 the hunt for treasure is going on inside a school premises which is quite opposite to the Andhra Pradesh state government secretariat,Well the evaluation of the hidden treasure is going to be in and around of Rs 20,000 crore by the people who are still to set their eyes on the same.So with the hand-operated and mechanised digging in the last three days which resulted failure in finding out the the tunnel in a belief that it may have any concealed treasure.However the state archaeology department has concluded to use state-of-the-art scientific equipment to take the site of digging to its probable outcome.
As known to every one that the site of digging has beginned on Sunday and it was carried on till Monday and the school was closed on the occasion of Mahashivratri.
As this school is 100 years old which is built on the land which is close to Naubat Pahad, and a hill on that where the Birla Temple has been constructed.City historians say there was a small cave in the hillside.
The tunnel is said to be 12 ft by 12 ft and Prof P Channa Reddy, state Treasure Trove Officer, is supervising the heavily guarded excavation work.
It will press into service ground scanners, earth imagers, long-range gold detectors, and gradiometers, as the situation demands, for electromagnetic and acoustical feedback. For this, it has sought the help of the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and the Geological Survey of India. If the need arises, the archaeology department will also approach the National Remote Sensing Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation for help.
“We are not going to leave the excavation midway. We will utilise modern technology to verify the presence of treasure. Saifabad and its surroundings are likely to have treasures. We have earlier found tunnels with empty iron chests and almirahs, which indicate the presence of treasure. The modern equipment will help us to find the tunnel and if it is there, whether the tunnel is standalone or connected to similar structures excavated in the vicinity,” said Dr P. Channa Reddy, director of archaeology and museums. He is also the state treasure trove officer.
A team of officials from the NMDC visited the site on Monday and will visit again on Tuesday for a preliminary assessment. Excavation was stopped on Monday pending help from expert agencies.
The management of Vidyaranya School, where the alleged treasure trove is hidden, objected to the excavation and demanded that it be stopped.One of the school committee members took up the issue with tourism and archaeology minister Vatti Vasanth Kumar when he visited the site. The school reopens on Tuesday after Sunday and the Mahasivaratri holiday.
The archaeology department began excavation on Saturday following a sworn affidavit by nine prominent citizens led by T. Raju, an executive of Coal India, that some of them had entered the tunnel and saw an iron gate within. The department sent a team to Mahbubnagar to bring some of the masons who allegedly saw the tunnel and the treasure. The masons were involved in construction work at the site a few months ago.
According to Mr Raju, the idea of hidden treasure in the tunnel gains credence because of the strong iron gate a few feet from the entrance. “In all the tunnels excavated in the vicinity there were no iron gates. The fact that this tunnel has an iron gate indicates that something precious is kept behind it,” he said.
Different sites were dug up on three different days but they did not lead to the alleged tunnel. Technical equipment will now hopefully do the job of locating the treasure if it exists as well as reveal other tunnels, graves or bunkers.
Tourism and archaeology minister Vasanth Kumar told this correspondent that the excavation will resume after receiving expert advice from the NMDC and the ASI.
“Any treasure or mineral below the ground belongs to the government. We will decide on the future course of action based on the outcome of the excavation,” he added.
The Hyderabad city police has been providing the security round the clock at the site where digging is going on.And more over the two police guards have been placed in that location exclusively from the patrolling teams and back up. (TS)
