Explained: How Pakistan’s monster monsoon has endangered Mohenjo-daro’s world heritage tag

The ‘monster monsoon’ in Pakistan has propelled Mohenjo-daro, the archaeological site situated in Sindh province, to the “brink of extinction”.

Pakistan’s Department of Archaeology has warned that the ancient Indus Valley civilisation site may be removed from the world heritage list if urgent attention is not provided to its conservation and restoration work, Dawn reported.

Even though Mohenjo-daro was not inundated, it has endured damage owing to heavy downpours, as per The Express Tribune.

Why is Mohenjo-daro significant? What efforts are being made to preserve it?

Let’s examine these questions in detail:

Significance of Mohenjo-daro

Situated 80 kilometres southwest of Sukkur city, Mohenjo-daro is a 5,000-year-old archaeological site. The site contains the remains of one of two main centres of the Indus civilization with Harappa being the other one, located 640 kilometres to the northwest in the Punjab province of Pakistan.

The significance of the ancient site was first recognized in 1922, a year after Harappa was discovered.

Mohenjo-daro, the city which signifies ‘the mound of the dead’, was once the largest city of the Indus civilization.

It was accorded UNESCO’s World Heritage site tag in 1980.

The houses in the city had baths while most of the homes had washrooms and a sizeable sewage system. The site also boasts of a large residential structure, a massive granary and a large citadel that operated as religious and ceremonial headquarters of the site, as per Britannica.

Torrential rains hit Mohenjo-daro

Mohenjo-daro witnessed severe rainfall, measuring 779.5 mm, from 16-26 August.

The heavy showers impacted the archaeological site situated on the bank of the Indus river, with the partial collapse of several walls, including the protection wall of the stupa dome, as per Dawn.

Following the damage, tourism to Mohenjo-daro has been halted.

Citing reports in Pakistani media, ThePrint reported that workers were removing stagnant water from excavated trenches at Mohenjo-daro.

The rainwater at Mohenjo-daro has “damaged excavated areas and exposed the ones buried underneath by creating furrows in them,” ThePrint cited reports as saying.

“The accumulated water has seeped into the excavated areas, loosening the soil and resultantly tilting the walls,” the report added.

Archaeologists have forewarned that if this scale of flooding occurs again, the heritage site may sink into the ground once again, reported Indian Express.

Sources have told The Express Tribune that Sindh Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Department has received flak from many organisations for allegedly failing to preserve all heritage sites.

Sindh bears the brunt 

As flood waters recede in Pakistan’s Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan provinces, the Sindh province remains one of the most affected regions hit by the devastating monsoon. According to the country’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), 492 lives have been claimed in the province.

To save Sehwan and Bhan Saeedabad towns, officials were forced to make a cut in the embankment of swelled Manchar lake on Sunday, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said, as per PTI.

This “difficult decision” would impact an estimated 1,25,000 people in five union councils, the minister added.

As many as 6,72,000 people had to take shelter in relief camps where they were being provided food and medicines, Memon informed.

Moreover, 47,000 pregnant women were in shelter camps in the province, with thousands suffering from water-borne diseases due to the floods, Sindh health minister Dr Azra Pechuho told DawnNews TV, PTI reported.

Other damaged sites 

Besides the ancient Mohenjo-daro, other sites including Shah Baharo and Tajjar buildings in Larkana and Mian Noor Mohammad Kalhoro graveyard in Moro have also sustained damage due to the incessant rains. Two other archaeological sites – Makli monuments in Thatta and Banbhore – and the Buddhist stupa at Thul Mir Rukan have also been affected by floods, ThePrint reported citing Pakistani media.

Endowment Fund Trust for the Preservation of Heritage of Sindh Secretary Hamid Akhund told Dawn, “Whatever we have restored has been damaged. There is not a single place left in Sindh where heritage remains intact; be it Kot Diji, Ranikot, Shahi Mahal, White Palace, Faiz Mahal, the historic imam bargahs, bungalows or public dispensaries.”

As per The Express Tribune, emergency preservation work has been kick-started at various sites including Mohenjo Daro, the tomb of Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro, the tomb of Mian Ghulam Nabi Kalhoro and the tombs of the Talpur Mirs in Hyderabad.

UN chief to visit Pakistan

On 9 September, United Nations (UN) secretary-general Antonio Guterres will visit Pakistan where 1,300 people have been killed and over 3.3 million have been affected due to flooding triggered by relentless rainfall.

Guterres is also expected to visit Mohenjo-daro on 11 September to assess if the ruins have lost some of the attributes that bagged it the world heritage tag, Indian Express reported.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.