Ancient tunnel discovered at Fort St George

Chennai: A portion of an underground “U” shaped tunnel running parallel to the now clogged moat around the historic Fort St George here was found by ASI officials when a portion of the plywood that covered the passageway near the secretariat’s outgate, caved in on Saturday.

The plywood, planked to seal the entrance of the tunnel having ancient wooden doors, close to the Fort Museum, caved in all of a sudden, thus revealing the ‘hidden’ passageway. Upon being informed K. Lourdusamy, superintending archaeologist, ASI, Chennai Circle, accompanied by K. Moortheeswari, deputy superintending archaeologist, Fort Museum, Chennai Circle, inspected the tunnel with a flight of steps. They found a portion of it blocked a provision to carry water. “It was pitch dark and bats kept flying around. We could only proceed for some distance of the old tunnel that was first discovered by  ASI,” says Moortheeswari. She told this correspondent that ASI would try to get in touch with Indian Army and navy authorities and obtain a copy of the sketch map of the ancient fort.

“Thereafter, we will take up a detailed investigation. The tunnel would have probably been built to facilitate British soldiers to move stealthily from the entrance of the Fort to the other end,” she explained. In the 1990s, during a routine conservation work at the fort, an underground tunnel running parallel to the moat was unearthed and this confirmed the original plan and design of the fort.

The tunnel, measuring two metres in height and one metre in wide, runs parallel to the inner rampart wall, right from the fort’s Wallajah Gate to the northwest corner of the fort raised in 1640. At regular intervals, the tunnel has an opening at the ground level.