Mohenjo Daro may be removed from the world heritage list

Larkana: Pakistan’s Department of Archaeology has called for urgent attention towards conservation and restoration work at Mohenjo Daro, apprehending that the site may be removed from the world heritage list if such work was not carried out, media reports said.

The archaeological ruins of Mohenjo Daro had received record rains, measured at 779.5 mm, which continued from August 16 to 26. It resulted in considerable damage to the site and partial falling of several walls, including the protection wall of the stupa dome, Dawn reported.

It was learnt that the Curator of the site in his August 29 letter to the Director, Culture, Antiquities, and Archaeology said: “We have put in efforts to protect the site with our resources.”

The role of other departments � Irrigation, Roads, Highways, and Forest � was quite essential for safeguarding the world heritage site, as landlords and farmers had not only inserted pipes and given cuts to canals and roads to release water into Mohenjo Daro’s channel. However, due to negligence on the part of above-mentioned departments, the rainwater from nearby agriculture lands had filled the disposal channel, sources said.

This caused delay in driving out water from the site, the letter said, adding that water had entered even into the campus. After rains, the official concerned at the site had said: “We are facing another emergency in the shape of a constant rise in the Indus level.”

Although water level in Indus is low, due to the construction of metal road on the protection dyke near Mohenjo Daro, paired with occurrence of fissures, cavities and dangerous gullies, the department had approached local irrigation officials but in vain, according to the letter. No one had turned up to inspect the site and assess the situation, it said, Dawn reported.