KARACHI, April 15: The quarrying of sandstone within the limits of a 13th century graveyard -- Pir Lakho -- in district Thatta’s Jhirk town has stopped with the intervention of the provincial government after media reports suggested the historic monuments were under serious threat due to the illegal activity, visibly removing the ground layer along with gravestones.

“The illegal mining has stopped after the provincial government issued strict orders to the Mineral Development Department and the district authorities of Thatta,” a source in the Sindh government said.

The illegal mining had continued unabated before the media reports, despite the provincial Mineral Development Department’s action to cancel a lease granted to M/s Mohammad Ibrahim. However, the Sindh government’s order has forced the otherwise complacent district authorities to take serious action against those involved in the ruining of the graveyard.

A committee comprising the Mineral Development Department and S&GAD’s Special Initiatives and Projects Department has been formed, which would examine the site, estimate the level of damage done by the mining and take steps to restore and safeguard the historic graveyard in future.

Besides, sources said the committee would also look into possibilities of making it obligatory under the law to have the environmental and archaeological impact assessment done before the Mines and Mineral Development Department grants lease of any area for mining, quarrying, explorations etc.

The committee, of which DCO Thatta is also a member, would also ask the DCO to instruct officials of the Revenue Department to earmark the limits of the historic graveyard so that a scheme envisaging fencing of the whole site and overall conservation could be implemented.

The graveyard of Pir Lakho is one of the major burial grounds in Sindh. The oldest graves are roughly dressed sandstone structures dating back to the 13th century. The Soomras living in Thatta region used to bury their dead besides the graveyard of Shah Kapur in 13th and 14th centuries. The most recent graves and ‘chaukandis’ belong to the 18th century and are very interesting structures.