GUWAHATI: Congress legislature party leader Debabrata Saikia has written to chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal seeking his intervention to ensure central funds to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for the preservation of Charaideo Maidam are released. Chariadeo was the first capital of the Ahom kingdom established by first Ahom king Chao Lung Siu-Ka Pha in the early 13th century . The centuries-old burial mounds of Ahom kings, included in Unesco's tentative list of world heritage sites, now face the threat of decay."The Charaideo Maidam was excavated in 2002 by the ASI. Since then, the Maidam has been left uncovered for over 14 years and has now become vulnerable to natural causes and environmental factors," Saikia had written in a letter to Union cultural affairs minister Mahesh Sharma in December, 2015.In January 2015, ASI had submitted a proposal by IIT-Kharagpur for preservation of the burial mounds, Saikia said, adding that it is still pending with the Union ministry of cultural affairs."Non-release of funds for the proposal has caused great resentment among the local people as Unesco has included the site in its tentative list of heritage sites," Saikia wrote in his letter to Sonowal.

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