Pakistan floods damage Mohenjo Daro, ancient Indus Valley site

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 received record rains, measured at 779.5mm, 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, Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported.

In a letter to the director of Culture, Antiquities, and Archaeology on August 29, the curator of the site said: “We have put in efforts to protect the site with our resources.”

The role of other departments – Irrigation, Roads, Highways, and Forest – was essential for safeguarding the world heritage site, as landlords and farmers had inserted pipes and given cuts to canals and roads to release water into Mohenjo Daro’s channel.

Due to negligence on the part of the above-mentioned departments, 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.

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 the Indus was low, due to the construction of a 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, according to Dawn.