The Maharashtra government's ambitious plan to conserve Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's capital in Raigad Fort will involve the comprehensive use of satellite technologies for development, excavating archaeological remains, and preventing any damage to the environment. This mapping will also help recreate original structures that once stood on the site, but were ravaged by the sands of time.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had visited New Delhi this week to discuss the Rs 606 crore-project.
Rajya Sabha MP and Kolhapur royal family scion Yuvaraj Sambhajiraje Chatrapati, who heads the Raigad Fort Development Authority, said they met officials from the Nagpur-based Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre (MRSAC) on Wednesday to discuss the use of satellite technologies for the project. "We will involve them for 3-D mapping at the fort to enable research, promote tourism, conservation, and archaeology and help develop Raigad without altering its heritage features," he said.
"This will enable us to find out where archaeological excavation should be conducted, how far and where we need to dig to prevent any damage to historical sites… this will ensure that constructions, like for instance, a road or a toilet block are not done at sites that have a structure beneath the ground," explained Sambhajiraje. This will also help archaeologists unearth buried or partially-buried structures and conserve them.
"At Raigad, we can use technologies like very high resolution satellite images, terrestrial LIDAR, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for a topographic survey, and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to detect buried archaeological structures," an official said, adding this is in a "preliminary stage" at present.
"The Raigad development plan has to be based on information from an archaeological standpoint and to conserve the ecology, as the area is in an environmentally-fragile zone. Hence, natural resources and features like natural water flow and aquifers must not be harmed," the official stated, adding this would help in situational assessment about the condition of the structures to aid their conservation.
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials said they had begun excavation at Raigad from March 14, under the project. Maratha-era structures and antiquities will be excavated, documented and restored.
MRSAC officials said they had conducted a presentation on their pilot project for 3-D mapping the Sinhagad Fort near Pune using a combination of geo-informatics technologies.
- Warrior-king Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who established a welfare state, seized the Rairi Fort from Chandrarao More in 1656 and strengthened and expanded it as 'Raigad'. He was crowned the 'Chatrapati' at the fort in 1674, which became his capital due to its vantage position in the Western Ghats between the Konkan coast and the desh (Deccan).
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