DADU, Feb 26: Speakers at a seminar held on Sunday expressed concern over the dilapidated condition of historical monuments and tombs of heroes.

They deplored the condition of structures build by the Talpurs who had fought against the British. The seminar on “Heritage of Sindh” was organized by the G. M. Syed Foundation at the Ranni Kot fort.

They demanded that a separate Sindh archaeology department be set up and cultural and historical sites in the province should be handed over to the department.

They also demanded that the biggest forts of the world, Ranni Kot, should be declared world heritage and measures should be taken for its conservation.

Historian and archaeologist Badar Abro said animal structures, which were 13 to 15 feet tall, found in the Ranni Kot area should be conserved.

He said the fort was spread over 32 kilometres which had five main gates and 49 observation and defence posts.

He alleged that antiquities and some items of Ranni Kot were stolen by officials of the archaeological department.

Historian M. H. Panhwar said the southern wall of Ranni Kot had resemblance with the Great Wall of China which should be repaired immediately.

He rejected the hypothesis that Nerun Kot was in Ranni Kot and said some remnants of Nerun Kot were found at Ganjo hills in Hyderabad. He said there were six stupas in Sindh, one of them was near Moenjodaro. He said he wanted to conduct research on the sites but the archaeology department did not allow him.

He said there were many historical places dating back to 6,000 years in the Sann area and if excavation was done 10 to 15 feet, some historical items could be found. Prof Ghulam Mohammad Lakho said three defence posts of the Shergarh fort had collapsed.

He said Sehwan was one of the three oldest and historical towns but regretted that no research on the Sehwan fort had been carried.

Dr Hidayat Prem said government officials had demolished a part of Ranni Kot and constructed a road towards the Basar village at the Shahpir gate of the fort. He alleged that officials of the roads department were using stones of the historical fort for construction of roads.

He said some items had been found at different historical sites which dated back to 5,000 years of the Indus valley civilization.

G. M. Syed Foundation chairman Jalal Mehmood Shah demanded that the Sindh government should release funds for phase-1 and 2 of repair of walls and defence points of Ranni Kot.

He also demanded construction of rest houses and a museum at Ranni Kot.

Ibrahim Joyo, Hakim Ali Shah Bukhari, Prof Ghulam Ali Allana, Prof Altaf Aseem, Ali Hassan Mallah, Nawaz Ali, Punhal Dahri and Imam Rashdi spoke on the occasion.