Gold dream fades, ASI may call off excavation

Eleven days after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) launched an excavation to unearth a “hidden treasure” beneath a ruined fort in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district, the gold hunt, it seems, may end “very soon”.

The ASI was reportedly contemplating calling off the digging after losing all hopes of finding the yellow metal.

Even the seer, whose dream about the hidden treasure had prompted the government to order the digging at the ruined fort of Raja Ram Bux Singh, its erstwhile ruler at Daudiya Kheda village, appeared to have lost hope and claimed that he had never said that the ASI would be able to find the gold.

The ASI, which had so far dug about 16 feet, felt that the possibility of finding the gold was almost nil. ASI officials at the digging site said the excavation might be called off after receiving direction from the senior officials.

Officials said on Tuesday that they might stop work in the next couple of days if there was no trace of the yellow metal.

The excavation work, that was launched on October 18, had attracted international attention, and invoked public interest with people in large numbers making a beeline for the digging site.