MOENJODARO is an archaeological sight located in Larkana on the right bank of the Indus River in Sindh. It was built around 2,500 BCE. At its peak, the city had at least 35,000 residents but was destroyed owing to floods. It was included in the World Heritage Sights in 1980 by Unesco. The preservation of Moenjodaro was suspended in December 1996 owing to lack of funding. It restarted in April 1997 after funding by Unesco.

Currently, the ruins are threatened by ground water, salinity, humidity, rainfall and improper restoration. Many walls have already collapsed, while others are crumbling. The Moenjodaro ruins further faced destruction in January 2014 when Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari chose this archaeological sight for Sindh Festival.

Despite being the chairman of the ruling party in Sindh, he further damaged the ruins instead of making efforts for their maintenance and recovery.

Most of the attempts at conservation by the authorities have been insufficient and unprofessional. They have only added to the damage. Even the artefacts at Moenjodaro museum have been lost, including many of the famous seals which are thought to have been used by traders. The artefacts that were stolen have not been recovered yet. Every year I visit this archeological sight and see it in a worse condition. Some experts have gone so far as to suggest the entire sight should be buried again to halt its decline. Pakistani archaeologists in 2012 warned that if measures to preserve the sight were not taken it could disappear by 2030.

The Sindh government should make serious efforts to preserve this national heritage.

Samiullah Soomro

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2016