Researcher's death in cave-in: Gujarat cops seek SOP details from IITs, ASI
Gujarat police on Friday said it was probing whether standard operating procedures were in place in connection with the November 27 trench cave-in near the Indus Valley Civilisation site of Lothal, which resulted in the death of a PhD student of Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.
Deceased Surbhi Verma (23) and three other researchers were at the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation site, some 80 kilometres from Ahmedabad, for research work and collection of samples when a 10-foot deep trench caved in.
«The joint team of IIT Delhi and IIT Gandhinagar had reached the spot to collect soil samples for paleoclimatic study. Surabhi, who was deep inside the pit, died instantly in the cave-in. A woman professor from IIT Delhi was rescued and two researchers from IIT Gandhinagar were unhurt,» said Ahmedabad District Superintendent of Police Om Prakash Jat. Koth police registered an accidental death case and began a probe, he added.
«Those who survived the cave-in claimed they were not digging inside the prohibited area of an ASI site. They told us permission is required if excavation is done within a 200-metre periphery of an ASI site. We will verify this claim by taking measurements at the site. We will get more details from Archaeological Survey of India about procedures to be followed for collection of samples at such sites,» the SP said.
«We are probing whether IITs have issued any SOP to their field researchers and whether these SOPs were followed. Letters have been sent to both IITs asking them to share information
