A RECENT ruling by the Kerala High Court (HC) directed concernedauthorities to protect the prehistoricremains in the Maraiyurvalley in Idukkidistrict from granite quarrying bydeclaring them as nationalmonuments. It was ruled last November,that quarrying would not be permittedat the site. The, prehistoric tombs- popularly known, as muniyaras(caves of sages) -, as ancient monuments, would come under the AncientMonuments and ArchaeologicalSites and Remains Act of 1958, theAncient Monuments Preservation Actof 1904, and the Kerala AncientMonuments-and Archaeological Sitesand Remains Act'of 1969, following thecourt order.
The ruling was the result of apublic interest writ petition filed by theKochi-based voluntary group -Niyamavedi. The group feared thatquarrying in the valley would lead tothe destruction of Maraiyur's prehistoric tombs, says A X Verghese ofNiyamavedi. Following the petition,a division bench of the Hc quashed anearlier directive of a single bench togrant a 107year long quarrying permission to a company in the Maraiyur valley.
Three years back, the companybegan largescale granite quarrying inthe Maraiyur --valley disregardingprotests raised by some local inhabitants. There , were apprehensionsbecause the valley is adjacent to theEravikulam national park - home tothe Nilgiri tahr, an endangered species.And blasts during granite quarryingwould be detrimental to the tomb structures, it was felt.
Says S P Thampi, superintendingarchaeologist of the Kerala state, "Thesetombs are the remains of a period ranging from 100 BC to AD 200." AfterThampi's research on the Maraiyurmuniyaras in 1973, the popular notionthat Kerala lacks a stone-age history wasbelied. The research helped historians todate the.history of the state back toabout 1,500 years. Consequently, thesite in the valley where cave paintingswere found, was declared by the statedepartment of archaeology in 1976 asprotected monument.
Unfortunately, unaware of their historical value of the structures, localfarmers who settled in Maraiyur fromthe late '50s onwards, destroyed severalsuch dolmens. But recent studies havenow helped in enlightening the localinhabitants about the heritage of theirstate.
Therefore, when Niyamavedi decidedto take the case to the HC, it was widelywelcomed. Says Verghese, "As thepetition was before the single bench ofthe High Court, for the first time inthe history of the court, the judge himself directly inspected the site." But, thebench', permitted the company tocontinue mining operation 50 in awayfrom the tombs. "Then we decided tomove to the division beach," informedVerghese.
The division bench, comprising acting; chief justice K T Thomas and justiceP Shanmugam, asked the director general of the Archaeological Survey ofIndia (Asi), to submit a report specifically stating whether the blasting operationwould endanger the existence of themuniyaras, and the steps to be taken toprevent such activity.
Following this, the deputy superintending archaeologist, ASi (Madras circle), inspected the site and its surroundings and recommended that blasting bediscontinued as it would endanger theancient dolmens.
While environmentalists allege thatthe callous inaction of the state departmerit of archaeology was responsible fbrthis kind of destructive activity department officials argue that granting ofpermits for granite quarrying wasentirely in the hand of the revenuedepartment. "If the revenue departmenthands over this land to the archaeologydepartment, we may be able to protectthese monuments," says S P Thampiruefully.