<span style="color: #222222;">Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has sought the intervention of the centre in regard to the excavation and preservation of a recently discovered post-Mauryan site in Barpali in Odisha. In a letter to the Union Minister for culture and tourism G. Kishan Reddy, Mr Pradhan has sought his personal intervention to hand over the excavation work to the Archaeological Survey of India.<br />''<br />''AIR correspondent reports that in his letter Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has apprised the union culture minister about the preciousness of the 2000 year old post-Mauryan site which was discovered recently by the history department of the Sambalpur-based Gangadhar Meher University.<br />''<br />''The site, spread over 17 hectares of land, has yielded numerous priceless artifacts and antiquities. Hence, the minister has urged the union culture ministry to direct the ASI to take over the excavation work of the site for better exploration, excavation, examination, analysis and security of the invaluable antiquities and historical wealth. </span><br />