akh is a picturesque hill station that not many were familiar with. But things are changing
THE authorities concerned seem to be showing a renewed interest in Gorakh, a scenic hill station, which augurs well for those who intend to visit the spot. It also hints at the fact that the road to Gorakh will at last be completed.
In the ‘80s I visited the region no less than four times on foot and wrote about it extensively in the local newspapers. I also talked about it as much as I could at forums that were then available to me.
I scribbled some 40 odd articles and presented one slide show at a renowned hotel in Karachi. The show was ably supported by some 60 transparencies of Gorakh. It was the very first genuine exposure to the region for a number of editors and senior columnist of many dailies and magazines. Not just that, the then director-general of SAZDA (Sindh Arid Zones Development Authority) and senior officials of the Sindh government were taken by surprise too. Thus, Gorakh was brought to light for the first time in the media.
Afterwards, I delivered about ten lectures on Gorakh on the world service and external services programmes of the Radio Pakistan. In the Sair-i-Pakistan series on the national hook-up, my lectures on Gorakh were rerun several times.
It was not just confined to radio. One of my climbs was shown in the episode Gorakh: pas manzar paish manzar in the Sehra, Sehra series on PTV, as well as on PTV World.
So what was it that motivated me? A love for adventure and a desire to share my experiences with others. At the age of 25, I had explored almost the entire north of Pakistan on foot. When I moved to the south my adventurous spirit further rejuvenated.
So passionate was my urge to introduce the hill that one of the deputy commissioners of Dadu, the home district of Gorakh, welcomed me after I came down from the spot and eagerly asked me in front of some 20 notables of the area was there enough land on the hilltop so that buildings could be constructed there. When I said yes, he looked at me with relief. Then he laughed and said to those present in his room, “Here is a journalist from Karachi and we are asking him what Gorakh looks like. We are born here, yet we have never gone up there.” It was an interesting session.
I think I am qualified to talk on the subject with some authority. Now that the hill station will be opened to the public, it is just about time that a few measures are taken. First, in the heavy inflow of visitors that is likely to take place, there are chances that much of the precious plants would be destroyed.
The remnants of a dried up sea are scattered everywhere too. Sea shells, sea urchins and trilobites embedded in rocks can be found here. I remember a fish that I once saw. It was one of the most perfect forms of petrified fish. It had a rosette ring around its eye sockets which were as big as full blown chrysanthemums. We couldn’t pick it up, since it was too heavy. The fish still haunts me in my dreams.
In some places, the fish and other forms of marine life are embedded in rocks which can be easily extricated. One would loath to see these rocks being displayed in drawing rooms at the cost of stripping Gorakh of its beauties. So rich is the Khirthar region in fossils that in a cave nearly 2,000 feet below Gorakh one of the biggest petrified heads of a mammoth fish was found, which is now on display at one of the museums in the West.
It’s time that a museum of natural history was constructed in Pakistan where some of these fossils could be preserved. I am suggesting all this in the hope that the local administration would have by now sorted out the security problems and done away with dacoits or contained them to such an extent that they are no longer a threat to the tourists.
Here, the tribes have a distinctive lifestyle as well, which may cease to exist in the next 20 or 25 years. There is a need to document the lifestyles of these tribes and to preserve them in a museum.
To me Gorakh hill in some places appear to be a natural rock garden. The vegetation growing between the rocks has to be kept in shape. An architect who goes there can appreciate this aspect better.
Many journalists want the readers to believe that at times in summer the temperature in Gorakh reaches the freezing point. This is by and large true, but only during the night. In daytime, Gorakh is just as warm as Quetta or Abbotabad. In fact, as one comes down during the daytime one starts looking for a shelter.
The natural beauty of Gorakh has to be kept in mind by those who intend to turn it into a tourist resort. They must make sure too that in the process its natural beauty doesn’t get destroyed.
akh is a picturesque hill station that not many were familiar with. But things are changing 
