PESHAWAR, Dec 8: Construction of the Bhasha-Diamer dam will inundate 32 villages situated between Bhasha and the Raikot Bridge and displace more than 25,000 people. It will also endanger the region’s archaeological remains.

So said Prof (Dr) Harald Hauptmann, head of a research project titled “Rock Carvings and Inscriptions along the Karakorum Highway”, at a press conference here on Friday. He said the dam would result in the inundation of most of the rock art galleries in the Diamer district, which would be a tragedy vis-a-vis the cultural history of the region.

Prof Hauptmann – who has been working on archaeological sites in the northern parts of Pakistan for the last 25 years – said there was a need for preserving the region’s unique cultural and historical sites. Before undertaking work on the proposed dam the government should establish a museum and a cultural centre in Gilgit where the rich culture of ancient civilisations could be preserved.

Answering a question, the professor admitted that dislocation of rocks for preservation was almost impossible, but some replicas could be made by using the three-dimensional scanning technology. Many countries, including Japan, China and Germany, could extend financial assistance to the government in this regard.

About the mountainous regions of the country, he said the western Himalayas and Karakorum were among the world’s largest rock art sites along the upper Indus. — Correspondent