Exclusive: After Lothal trench collapse kills PhD Scholar, IIT Delhi panel recommends mandatory parental consent, safer excavation site selection

On November 27, Surabhi, a 26-year-old PhD student at IIT Delhi’s Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, died when a trench she was working in for her project on paleoclimatology near the Harappan site of Lothal in Gujarat collapsed on her. While Surabhi was buried alive, her guide, Associate Professor Yama Dixit, was fortunately pulled out of the trench. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) later clarified that the pit had been dug outside the protected area — around 45 metres beyond the boundary of the Lothal protected site — and without its authorisation.

Following the incident, IIT Delhi established a three-member committee — chaired by Javed N. Malik of IIT Kanpur, with Hema Achyuthan of Anna University and Deepankar Choudhury of IIT Bombay as members — on March 12, 2025, and tasked it with examining the “operating procedure and protocols observed during the recent field trip to Lothal with reference to standard practices,” and suggesting “changes to procedures and protocols (if any) that can strengthen the safety of such research.”

The committee met twice — on April 20 and April 24, 2025 — and was tasked to submit its report in a time of one month since its constitution, The Indian Express has learned.

The IIT Delhi committee is learned to have flagged three key observations in its report. It noted the absence of any “mandatory SOP or Safety Protocols” for excavating shallow trenches. The committee’s ability to assess the incident and suggest improvements was also hampered by the lack of appropriate field photographs documenting the trench or trenches excavated during the Lothal fieldwork. Based on inputs from IIT Delhi, the trench in question was located in an “alluvial plain area with a dimension of 10 ft. deep, 5 ft. wide, and 10 ft. long.” The panel noted that Prof. V.N. Prabhakar of IIT Gandhinagar — a former ASI official — “had appropriate experience in excavating such shallow trenches” and a “collaborator of Prof Dixit since the past two years”

Nevertheless, it concluded that “the trench was not so deep” and that its collapse was “merely an accident.”

To address the gaps identified, the committee made the following key recommendations:

1. Securing “appropriate permissions” — including No Objection Certificates from parents, the Head of Department, the institution, and relevant local authorities — prior to any field investigation.

2. Selecting excavation sites “away from the road” to avoid vibrations from heavy traffic.

3. Designing trenches “wider — at least 3.5–4 m wide” to allow safe entry and exit for the research team.

4. Maintaining “continuous watch… identifying the development of extensional cracks” during and after excavation to prevent trench collapse.

5. Immediate removal of excavated material from trench peripheries to prevent loading of trench walls.

6. Constructing trench walls with slight inclines and building “safe steps/ramps for easy movement.”

IIT Delhi did not respond to queries by The Indian Express on the action taken on the committee’s recommendations.

Almost four months after the incident, Ahmedabad Rural Police filed an FIR against Prof. Dixit on March 23, 2025, based on a complaint from Verma’s father, Ram Khelawan Verma, a government teacher in Uttar Pradesh. According to the FIR, Verma and Dixit — along with Prof. V.N. Prabhakar and Shikha Rai of IIT Gandhinagar — had excavated a trench described as “13 feet in length, 4 feet in width, and 10 feet in depth” near the Lothal site using a “Hitachi” machine.

Prof. Dixit has been booked under Sections 106(1) (causing death by negligence) and 125(a) (endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

In a letter dated December 5, 2024, IIT Gandhinagar informed ASI that it was not formally involved in the project. “IIT Gandhinagar was not involved in the concerned project… it was not a collaborative project,” the institute stated, adding that media reports describing a “four-member team” were inaccurate. The institute further said that two members of their Archaeological Sciences Centre, Prof. V.N. Prabhakar and Dr. Shikha Rai, were present simply as acquaintances…and to extend local support such as transport..they were neither part of…the project nor collecting any soil samples.”

“When the pit collapsed, Prof. Prabhakar jumped into the pit in an attempt to rescue the trapped members of the IIT Delhi team. His attempts to rescue Prof. Yama Dixit and the student without concerns of impending danger on his own life are definitely praiseworthy. Unfortunately, he could not extricate the student, who died out of this incident,” it said.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Rajat Moona, Director IIT Gandhinagar said ” “The project was not an official collaboration between IIT Delhi and IIT Gandhinagar. Some colleagues from IIT Gandhinagar happened to be in the area and extended logistical and transportation support. Since this was not an official project of IIT Gandhinagar, the institute did not conduct any inquiry into the matter. This remains the institute’s formal position.”