A 23-year-old Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Delhi scholar died after a trench collapsed during a research excavation at Lothal, Gujarat, a week ago.
Surbhi Verma, a PhD student at IIT Delhi, died on the spot and was accompanied by Yama Dixit, an assistant professor at IIT-Delhi’s Centre for Atmospheric Science, who sustained injuries.
There has been little progress as the officials have yet to speak out. Ahmedabad Rural Police investigators stated that IIT-Delhi and IIT-Gandhinagar have not replied to enquiries concerning the standard operating procedures (SOP) for such excavation to identify safety protocol violations.
“The primary investigation is related to the purpose of the IIT-Delhi researchers visiting the site and collecting samples in a manner far from the usual process. It is under probe whether the group from IIT-Delhi was acting at the behest of some other researcher,” said sources.
A statement from IIT-Delhi may shed light on the circumstances under which the digging was carried out. No locals were involved, and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) must be informed about the digging. The method was crude compared to the usual excavation at historically significant sites.
Safety breaches at the site, such as inadequate safety equipment for the team, poor trench design and no ASI NOC for the excavation, have already been reported to ASI headquarters.
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