March 09, 2008	Sunday	Safar 30, 1429

KARACHI, March 8: Despite clear orders to the federal government for removal of encroachments from the world heritage site of Moenjodaro, an illegal structure of a multinational cell phone company has not been removed even after a lapse of over six months, Dawn has learnt.

According to sources, the telecommunication company, Telenor, had installed a communication tower in Moenjodaro. The Supreme Court while hearing a case in mid-2007 ordered that all encroachments, including the Telenor tower, be removed within two months (by August 2007). However, over six months have lapsed since the order was passed and the tower remains functional. Telenor, meanwhile, maintains that the tower lies outside the protected area.

The sources said that the federal archaeological department had also approached the Sindh chief secretary in July 2007, and sought his help in implementing the apex court’s order. They said that the officials had also tried to get assistance from the Larkana district administration, but in vain.

In a communication sent to the federal archaeological department, Moenjodaro curator Fatah Shaikh reported that while the District Coordination officers of Dadu, Hyderabad etc had helped the local archaeological department in removing the encroachments from protected sites in their respective districts, the “district government Larkana insisted that the archaeology department should remove the encroachment on their own with the help of local police”.

Meanwhile, the DCO, Larkana, said in a report that the Mukhtiarkar of Dokri after conducting the demarcation had reported that the tower was installed in Survey No. 600 of Taluka Dokri’s Deh Bagi area, which was the property of one Ranjhan and others and was located outside the protected Moenjodaro site.

The DCO, Ghulam Mustafa Phul, further said that according to the Antiquities Act, 1975, and Illegal Dispossession Act, 2005, the owner of the property might initiate action for removal of encroachment. Therefore, the Moenjodaro curator had been advised to take action under the law. He would be provided with cooperation, including police assistance, for removal of the encroachment, he said.