IIT-Delhi student dies after Harappan excavation pit collapses in Lothal, Gujarat

A 23-year-old PhD student from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi died on Wednesday during her research trip to Lothal in Gujarat after a trench collapsed near the site of the Harappan Valley Civilization.

The late Surabhi Verma had traveled to the ancient port city of Lothal to study paleoclimatology as part of a joint team of four researchers from IIT-Delhi and IIT-Gandhinagar. The incident occurred around 11:00.

Police said an accidental death (AD) report has been filed. The condition of 45-year-old rescued Professor Yama Dixit of IIT-Delhi is said to be “critical”.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Vadodara Circle, has sent a team to Lothal to investigate the incident and submit a report.

“The team was digging a pit in Lothal and collecting samples when the pit collapsed, burying two of the four crew members at the site. It took the police 15 minutes to reach the spot due to the distance between the accident site and the nearest one. There were a total of five people there, including the driver,” The Indian Express quoted Om Prakash Jat, superintendent of police, Ahmedabad Rural Police, as saying.

The nearest police station from Lothal is 20 km away at Koth and Ahmedabad is 70 km away.

SP Jat also stated that Professor Dixit was rescued “but her condition was uncertain”. She was shifted to CHC Bagodar in Amedabad from where she was later taken to Apollo Hospital in Gandhinagar due to breathing problems and the oxygen level in her body was sub-optimal.

Dixit is an assistant professor at the Center for Atmospheric Sciences (CAS) at IIT-Delhi, where the deceased student was conducting research.

PN Gohil, sub-inspector of Koth police station, said the research team was carrying out the exercise in an area outside the boundaries of the main protected archaeological site.

“Academics were collecting samples outside the main archaeological site in Lothal. They hired someone with a backhoe to dig a hole near the old, dilapidated boarding houses and worked inside. However, as the soil in the area is very loose, the cause of the collapse could have been water gushing from the ground,” an SI official told The Indian Express, explaining the possible cause of the collapse.

Two other members of the team — Associate Professor VN Prabhakar and Senior Research Fellow Shikha Rai — were from the Center for Archaeological Sciences at IIT Gandhinagar.

Verma’s postmortem was conducted at CHC Bagodara on Wednesday evening, after which her family was informed about her death.

Police also said that there were no designated archaeologists at the site at the time of the incident and locals informed the police about this.

“A team from Vadodara was sent to the spot to investigate the incident. Have they been issued permission for excavation and who will inquire about it,” said Abhijit Ambekar, supervising archaeologist, ASI Vadodara Circle.

The report further stated that the ASI has been asked to submit a report on the accident within 24 hours.

Initial reports indicate that researchers have not obtained permission from authorized agencies, which is necessary to excavate the site, as it is a prohibited area. The methodology used by the academic team indicates that it may have lacked expertise in excavating such sites.