20000329

Call to implement

Unesco plan

to save Moenjodaro

ISLAMABAD: The glorious remains of the Indus Valley civilisation at Moenjodaro in Sindh Ñ a world heritage site Ñ are fast sinking into what experts call an 'underground sea' create by the constantly, rising level of subsoil water. The water table has gone up to an alarming level of just five feet below the surface.

The state of affairs is attributed to the failure of the custodians of the archaeological site to implement Unesco's master Plan to save Moenjodaro.

The plan prepared by Unesco experts in 1974 recommended a number of important steps Ñ lowering the water table by sinking 58 tubewells, diverting the flow of the Indus away from Moenjodaro in the east, repair and restoration of the crumbling ruins, largescale afforestation around the site to protect the remains from gusty winds, and a comprehensive beautification plan to make the place attractive for visitors.

It was never taken up seriously. Half-hearted measures taken by the authorities included the sinking of 26 tubewells instead of the recommended but even these helped bring water table down to 32 feet below the surface thus providing considerable relief to the archaeological site and to nearby agricultural lands.

But the tubewells were abandoned in 1997 when the Authority for Preservation of Moenjodaro was dissolved. And soon the water level started rising again, reaching the near-danger mark.

Other measures suggested by Unesco met almost the same fate. Only some of the steps recommended to protect the site from the advancing Indus were taken.

With the stoppage of the tubewell operation, apparently for want of funds the deterioration worsened. The underground structures of the third millennium BC are virtually floating on water-logged tracts.

According to experts, the salt content in the backed bricks and potteries caused them to explode once the structures are exposed to outer atmosphere through excavations.ÑPPI