LARKANA: After a long delay, the Sindh culture department has awarded the contract for resuming the dry core drilling at Moenjodaro, a mandatory requirement of Unesco, to determine the actual areas of the historical site.

Talking to Dawn on Monday, culture department secretary Dr Niaz Abbasi said work would start on the project as soon as the monsoon season would be is over. The task would be completed within a few weeks, the secretary said.

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had launched the dry core drilling project on April 5, 2014 which Unesco has been demanding since 2006. It was the first-ever indigenous effort at Moenjodaro after a similar small-scale exercise was carried out by George F. Dales, an American archaeologist, about 50 years ago, said Sharmila Farooqi at the launching ceremony.

Since then the project was in doldrums as the contractor discontinued work due to unknown reasons, sources said. Work was awarded after some time, but an expert, Prof Dr Sarfraz Solangi, of the University of Sindh, raised objections over the machinery brought in to begin the process. He opined it would disturb the structures and the process was, therefore, halted. Two times the tenders were cancelled as nobody was ready to undertake the task, sources said.

This is the fifth time that the tender has been awarded for the essential work. If the process is not begun in order to demarcate the limits of the site, there was danger of de-listing the site from the Unesco world heritage list, sources said. Another source in the department said the contract had been given to Wali Muhammed Bhutto.

The drilling would cost Rs7 million and the work would be carried out in crisscross and diagonal fashion at 40 points, sources said.

In reply to a question regarding damages during recent rains at the site, secretary Dr Abbasi said pre-monsoon arrangements had been made to avoid any damages. “We saved the structures from the onslaught by putting in place manual and mechanical arrangements.” About closing the site to the public till Aug 15, he said the step was taken to save the site from possible damages to the structures during rains.

However, it was open to foreign visitors and research scholars, he said adding that these mega-archaeological sites were not places of recreation. “I appeal to the visitors to not walk on the structures during their visits to avoid damages,” he said. After 10 days the site would be opened to the public, he said.

Culture department additional secretary Bashir Ahmed Brohi in the wake of reports arrived here to assess the ground realities about the rain damages and told Dawn that he would submit his findings to the secretary.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play