Archaeological ruins dating back to more than 2,300 years are being lost to encroachments in Bangladesh as the government says it does not have the funds to conserve them.

Villages surrounding the ruins of Mahasthangarh in northern Bangladesh, some 200 km from here, are encroaching on the site of the ancient capital city of Pundranagar, the Daily Star reported Sunday.

The local people have been cultivating winter vegetables, onions, rice and other crops on more than 250 acres of the 3,750-acre site.

Residents say precious artefacts, including gold coins, jewellery, utensils and inscriptions, were dug out and smuggled away from the site, which is 18 km away from the northern town of Bogra.

"If the government does not take steps soon to establish authority over this land, we will no longer be able to protect the site," the newspaper quoted Curator of Mahasthangarh Museum, Mohammed Abdul Zabbar.

While farmers have taken over 250 acres of land, the government has managed to acquire only less than 10 acres in the last several years.

Such apathy has encouraged some to build houses using stolen bricks of priceless antiquity.

Aaliboddi Mia, a local who was seen carrying two baskets of ancient bricks, believed he had the right to take the bricks away.

"We have been living in that area for generations and we own these lands," Mia points out. He explains how he got the bricks, "I got it by digging the land. I will make a wall using mud and these bricks around my house."

According to land records, farmers still own over 800 acres of the land in the archaeological site, officials said.

But since the government has not taken any steps to acquire the land, they still farm on the area and cause damage to the site by taking away bricks and other materials, local people say.

A Unesco official said the government has been preparing a proposal asking Unesco to nominate Mahasthangarh as a world heritage site and provide financial and technical help.

"After receiving the government proposal, the Unesco experts will decide whether this site should be marked as a world heritage site or not," notes Shahida Parvin of Unesco's cultural desk.

An excavation of the site has been underway since 1993 as part of an academic exchange scheme between Bangladesh and France. Shafiqul Alam, chief of the excavation team, notes Mahasthangarh is an open site and its land is public property.

"It would take a lot of money to acquire all those lands. But the government does not have that money and so we cannot do much," Shafiqul Alam pointed out. "if the farmers do not dig out the site very deep, it would not be a problem."

Discovered in the early 1930s, this one-time affluent city was buried under the soil and is said to hold more priceless artefacts.

--Indo-Asian News Service