Vardhan Walavalkar

₹67 lakh to restore a Delhi wall. ₹0 for a shelter that would've saved an ancient Bihar mound. ASI continues excavation without sheds. A basic temporary shelter for an active dig site: ₹50,000–₹1 lakh. Last month, ASI announced ₹67 lakh for Shahjahanabad's Daryaganj wall restoration in Delhi. Three months. Full tender process. Madhubani's mound? Likely older than Shahjahanabad by centuries may be Shunga to Pala. Currently being excavated. Currently collapsing. Zero protection. Monsoon in Bihar isn't a surprise. It arrives every July. ASI knows this. They planned the excavation. They released the funds. They deployed the team. They didn't budget for a roof. 🏛️💧 This isn't about lack of resources. It's about allocation. ₹67 lakh flows to restore a 17th-century wall in the capital. ₹0 to shelter an active excavation of something potentially far older in Bihar. Same institution. Same month. Same monsoon season. Different priorities. The mound doesn't collapse because rain is unpredictable. It collapses because protection is considered optional. We don't lack money for archaeology. We lack commitment to what gets protected and what gets documented while it disappears. Who decides which centuries get sheltered?