Monumental sellout in Haryana: 2 Kos Minars wiped out

CHANDIGARH: One would think that the everyone would notice if an around 30-feet high tower disappeared, but the Haryana government doesn’t appear to care much about the wiping out of the two Kos Minars (mile towers)--protected monument of historical importance -- in Shahbad (Kurukshetra) and Mujesar revenue area of Faridabad.
The reply to a RTI query by Panipat resident Amit Kumar has revealed that the Haryana government, unaware of the importance of these monuments of historic importance, sold off the land where these were constructed, paving the way for their eradication.
RTI reply gives land transfer info, not tower sites
Apart from making no effort to locate the sites, the Haryana government has not even bothered to respond to the queries made by Archeological Survey of India (NWR). In the case of the Mujesar mile tower, the police too have failed to act on the complaint lodged by ASI with the then district SP.
Of the total 49 such Kos Minars across the state, the count stands at 8, according to officials in ASI. The Kos Minars were declared a protected monument of historical importance in March 1914.
The RTI activist had sought the details of communication between ASI and Haryana government about the missing Kos Minars in Shahbad and Mujesar and the action taken so far.
In its reply, ASI has confirmed that two Kos Minars are missing and that archaeologists have failed to locate their sites. The reply has, however, provided details of how the land where the Kos Minars were located was transferred by the Haryana government from time to time.
Referring to Shahbad Kos Minar, the reply stated that according to the December 1914 notification, the said land was allotted to one Vali Mohammad. After Partition, the plot measuring one bigha six biswas was allotted to one Jiwan Lal in 1971. According to records and information gathered from locals, the Kos Minar was there till 1955. Later the land was acquired by the then Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and used for construction of buildings, residential as well as commercial.
On the Mujesar Kos Minar, the ASI said that in 1983, the land where the structure existed was allotted to a multinational company by the Haryana government for setting up an industrial unit. The company had razed the entire structure, and when this came to the notice of ASI, a complaint was lodged before the deputy commissioner as well the then SP of Faridabad.
When contacted, officials in Directorate of Archeology and Museum, confirmed the communication between ASI and state but expressed their inability to comment saying, "it was between ASI and local administration.’’ The ASI officials claimed that they have already conveyed the same in the RTI reply.