‘They could not farm because they did not do what the authorities said’ Farmers complained in the excavation Keeladi that

'Agriculture could not be done because the authorities did not do what they said,' complained the farmers who gave the land for free to the excavation Keeladi .

The archeological mound is located on 110 acres below near the turning point. Keeladi Excavations have been going on here since 2014. Phase three excavations have already been carried out by the Central Archaeological Survey and phases four, five and six by the Tamil Nadu Archaeological Survey. Phase 7 excavation is currently underway.

The excavation sites are mostly private agricultural lands. Thus when the excavation began, the farmers refused to give up their land, claiming that digging the pits would affect agriculture.

Following this, the revenue and archeological officials held talks and promised to provide the necessary assistance to agriculture.

Subsequently, the farmers donated their land for excavation work. Archaeologists are still struggling to gather enough evidence before reaching the final conclusions. Farmers have complained that they could not cultivate because they did not do what the authorities told them to do.

Commenting on this, Suresh from Kontagai said, 'My sister Sethuram and I each gave one acre of land for the excavation work. My sister's land has been without electricity for a year due to a power outage. When the excavations began, officials said they would repair the electricity and provide drip irrigation. Having covered the pits dug for the excavation, so far nothing has been done. As a result, we are not able to do agriculture, 'he said.

Archaeological officials said, "We have informed the district administration about the problems of the farmers."