mumbai

Updated: Jul 06, 2017 11:51 IST

Volunteers of the Kille Vasai Mohim, a local group involved conservation and preservation of forts in Vasai and nearby areas were surprised to find 3 huge iron cannon balls dating back to 1860 from an old Virar fort while they were cleaning the premises last week.

Eleven volunteers were involved in the cleanliness drive at the Takamgadh fort located in Sakwar in Virar, when they found the 3 iron cannonballs.

Dr Shridatta Raut, a fort conservationist, said, “We were cleaning the fort of garbage when we found the cannonballs, each weighing between 2 to 2.5kg. The fort is located at a desolate spot off the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway, and at a great height, and was a favourite hideout for freedom fighters who were fighting against the British Raj. The Takamgadh fort had a few water tanks, each having a capacity of 10,000 litres, which was used to store water for freedom fighters who were hiding there.”

“The Britishers then used cannons to destroy the water tanks so as to deprive the of drinking water,and some of the cannonballs were found intact, as they did not blast,” said Dr Raut. The said destruction of water tanks by the Britishers is even mentioned in the Gazette said the historian.

According to Dr Raut, the volunteers climbed to the top after 2 hours of arduous trekking and managed to clean around 120 “ghamelas” (headloads) of muck including old clothes, footwear, and other garbage, discarded by trekkers, in a matter of 6 hours.