MITHI: Geologists, historians, literati and other scholars speaking at a conference held recently in Nohato village — known for its centuries-old historical sites — of Tharparkar district resolved to work together for the revival of ancient Hakro river and its natural courses.

People from different walks of life attended the event, titled ‘Hakro Literary and Cultural Conference’, organised by the Hakro Literary Forum.

Sindh Minster for Culture Syed Sardar Ali Shah, Nasir Abbas Nayyar (from Punjab), Jami Chandio, Khalil Kumbhar, Dr Ishaq Samejo, Dr Fateh Mohammd Marri, Mir Hassan Arisar, Dr Adal Soomro, Tooba Qazi, Qasid Mallah, Mumtaz Bukhari, Mehboob Rana, Mumtaz Nohrio, Naseer Kumbhar, Bharu Mal Amrani and other scholars spoke at the moot.

Sardar Shah said it was totally wrong that British rulers had brought a revolution in the region by introducing reforms and laying an irrigation and railways network during the colonial era. “They, rather, destroyed or badly damaged Sindh’s historical sites in pursuit of their goal to plunder resources of the culturally rich region of Indus civilisation,” he added.

Resolves to ensure revival of ancient Hakro river and its natural courses

He said that the irrigation and railways network were laid by the colonial rulers for the benefit of their own East India Company and certain parts of the United Kingdom. “British rulers had dug up the Nara Canal using Hakro riverbed and disturbing the river’s natural course, thus stopping it from flowing towards Shakoor Lake, the ancient river’s natural destination,” said Sardar Shah.

Hakro’s natural courses were first destroyed during the Kalhora dynasty but British rulers caused more damage to them and the historical sites existing all along waterways to dig up Nara Canal, he said. He said the canal was meant for irrigating lands in various districts falling along (Indus river’s) right bank after Sukkur Barrage was built, he added. The last and lethal attack on Hakro river and its flows was inflicted by implementing the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) project in the late 1980s.

The minister asserted that the LBOD proved fatal for natural flows as the courses of the once mighty river were badly disturbed and obstructed.

“It’s necessary to restore the vanished [Hakro] river and its natural courses by clearing its occupied and encroached upon beds so that floodwaters could safely dispose of into its natural destination,” he said.

Mr Shah told the audience that research on the centuries-old historical site of Nohato had been undertaken in 2018 under the supervision of geologists and other relevant experts. “The Nohato civilisation resembles to that of Mohenjo Daro … we are trying to explore more such sites along the banks of vanished Hakro river,” he said, and added that once revived, the river’s flows towards Shakoor Lake would be restored by marshalling all available resources.

The minister said it was the prime duty of his department, experts, historians and researchers to find ways to revive the pristine glory and grandeur of Hakro river.

“It’s very unfortunate that with the destruction of such ancient rivers, not only the ecology and environment of the region was badly affected, but also the history was distorted. I am making my sincere efforts to get the history corrected and also rectify the damage done to historical sites,” he said.

He resolved to go ahead with his mission and to clear the bottlenecks created to obstruct the natural waterways, he said, and urged experts of the field to help him accomplish the task.

Eminent novelist and Seraiki poet Riffat Abbas said that such events would help unveil hidden aspects of Sindh’s rich history, heritage and culture.

Nasir Abbas Nayyar welcomed the resolve to restore and preserve all historical sites in Sindh.

Jami Chandio said it was the need of the hour to protect historical sites and discover more such sites in Sindh.

Partab Shivani, head of the Hakro Literary Forum, said that Hakro river had great cultural and religious significance. He called for a halt to unplanned urbanisation and ensure proper capacity-building of officials posted at various barrages and canals, besides producing early warning system for disasters, especially rains and floods.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2022