The catastrophic floods in Pakistan that killed hundreds of people, now threaten the iconic world heritage site of Mohenjo Daro dating back 4,500 years.
The floods have not directly struck Mohenjo Daro but the torrential rains have caused damage to the ruins of the ancient city, locals said.
Local authorities said that the Mohenjo Daro region had received record rains, measured at 779.5mm, from August 16 to 26 that resulted in significant damage to the site and fractional falling of numerous walls, including the protection wall of the stupa dome. However, the site’s landmark, “Buddhist stupa”remains intact, the curator said.
“Several big walls, which were built nearly 5,000 years ago, have collapsed because of the monsoon rains,” Ahsan Abbasi, the site’s curator, said while talking to news agencies.
According to Ahsan Abbasi, dozens of construction workers have started the repair work under the supervision of archaeologists. He did not mention the estimated cost of the damages at Mohenjo Daro.
Earlier, the site curator in his letter to the director of culture, antiquities, and archaeology on August 29 said: “we have put in efforts to protect the site with our resources”.
However, due to negligence on the part of other departments — irrigation, roads, highways, and forest —the rainwater from nearby agricultural lands had filled disposal channel since the native farmers and landlords had not only implanted pipes, they had also given cuts to canals and roads to release water into Mohenjo Daro’s channel.
According to the letter, therefore mentioned negligence caused a delay in driving out water from the ruins and the water even entered the campus.
In view of the current situation, the department of archaeology has directed the authorities for urgent attention towards protection and repair work at Mohenjo Daro warning that the ancient ruins may be removed from the world heritage list if the required work was not carried out.
Archaeological ruins at Mohenjo Daro
The ruins of the vast city of Mohenjo Daro were built entirely of unbaked brick in the 3rd millennium BC. The well-planned street grid, water reservoirs and detailed drainage system indicate that the inhabitants of the ancient Indus civilization city of Mohenjo Daro were skilled urban planners.