LUDHIANA: Over 30 years have passed since the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) acquired possession of 8.5acres of land in the Sunet area for excavation of ancient coins and artefacts. However, other than a few old residents of the village, not many are aware about the importance this place holds.The members of NGO Maha Sabha had raised the demand to construct a museum near the site to display the excavated materials, but no heed was paid to it.Some of the villagers still possess these ancient artefacts . They claimed that they used to collect these items during the rainy season or while digging up the land for construction of their houses. "As a child I used to collect these ancient coins and sell them for Rs 5 or Rs10. I was not aware of the value of this historic currency," said 80-year-old Surjit Singh who was born and raised in Sunet.According to him, a large part of the Sunet area is abundant in these artefacts and coins underneath, and if excavation is conducted here, remarkable recovery will happen. "It is a common belief among the villagers that some 4,000 years ago, a king had built his posh fortress at the location, but due to his misdeeds, his entire establishment had vanished into the ground," said Surjit.Colonel JS Brar of Maha Sabha, however, stated that ASI had conducted an excavation here in 1984 and the teams had found several coins and other age-old items which they took to Chandigarh. He said it was in that year that ASI had taken over this land from the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT). But, but due to sheer neglect, it became an encroachment hub. "It was after our intervention that the encroachments were removed and ASI constructed a wall around the monuments. Yet, our demand for a proper museum at this site has not been fulfilled," he added.While showing his own collection of ancient coins and artefacts, Nirbhay Singh of the village said these have been preserved in his family for over several generations. "My father had received these objects from his grandparents and he gave the antique utensils and earthen coins to my mother. After my mother's demise, I have been taking care of these things." Nirbhay's mother had told him that the objects - earthen utensils, coins and shells - were discovered during the construction of their old house many decades ago and have been preserving the same ever since.A visitor from area, Sumit Verma, said, "A random visit to the place would not give you the idea of it being a preserved monument or private property unless you read a board displayed at the site that says the site is preserved by ASI and anybody found excavating or harming this place will be penalized." He opined that if there is some historic relevance of this land then ASI should display proper information about the site.ASI has deployed three guards at the site. Monument incharge Varinder Kumar said there is no concrete information about this site with anybody and the department is yet to conduct a detailed excavation to learn the facts. He said senior officials visit the site occasionally and that a final excavation plan is on the cards but may take time. The department is also preparing a booklet about the site, he said.

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