January 27, 2007	Saturday	Muharram 07, 1428

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

DADU, Jan 26: A number of fossils of fish, plants and other organisms have been found in a place said to be the largest fossilised coral reef in the world. The place, called Bunjo after a spring, is in the Khirthar mountain range near Gaji Shah, some 50 kilometres away from Dadu city.

The reef contains several identified fossils, including fish, sponges, snails and flower plants.

It may be mentioned that coral reefs, also called sea gardens, are generally located in the ocean bed.

Local people use the spring’s water for drinking.

Experts say there is a treasure of fossils on the slopes of the Bunjo mountain.

Shafqat Wadho, an irrigation engineer with keen interest in geology, discovered the mountain formed of fossils during a visit to the Khirthar range.

Speaking at a press conference at his residence in Dadu on Friday, Mr Wadho said that the living organism had been fossilised millions of years ago.

He claimed that the site was actually fossilised coral reef and once it was a part of an ocean bed.

He said that the area was spread over 2.5 square kilometres and added that fossils in such large numbers might not be found at any other place in the world.

Mr Wadho said it was an open natural geological museum of an era dating back to 50 million years.

He appealed to geologists of the country to visit the Bunjo mountain for more research and called upon the federal and Sindh governments and the National Geographic channel to visit the area which was a treasure trove of geological wonders.