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India: Archeological sites at risk in the Narmada River valley
Scholars have studied India's Narmada River valley for more than 60
years and consider it to be one of the country's richest
archeological regions. Yet because of lack of funding and in some
cases lack of interest, they have so far not undertaken significant
excavation. That said, experts recently made several major finds,
which included the only hominid ever found on the Indian
subcontinent, dozens of Lower Paleolithic sites, and several ancient
temples.
For the past 3,000 years, hundreds of thousands of Hindus have
performed a
pradakashina (circumambulation) along the Narmada. This rite
involves walking the entire length of the river up and back along
both banks, a total of some 800 miles. Besides hundreds of historic
temples that have grown up along the river, experts believe the
region harbors remains of a wide range of early cultures.
In 1946, newly independent India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal
Nehru, first proposed damming the Narmada to provide hydroelectric
power and irrigation to 50 million people. Since then, work has been
underway to design and build on the river at least 30 large dams,
135 medium-sized dams, and nearly 3,000 small dams, which are used
to channel water into thousands of miles of irrigation canals. But
two of the largest dams—the Sardar Sarovar in Gujarat state
and the Narmada Sagar in Madhya Pradesh—have yet to be built,
and conservationists both in and outside of India have sharply
critized both projects for the deleterious impact they will likely
have on the valley's environment. Also of concern is the plight of
250,000 local people who have to relocate before the floodwaters
rise. And, of course, the two so-called "megadams" will flood
temples and submerge unexcavated riverbanks along the Narmada.
Currently, no plans exist for salvage archeology in the region.
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