By
Sulaimon Jamiu
One of the world’s oldest preserved human settlements, has been significantly damaged by torrential rain in Pakistan as the country battles the worst floods in its history.
The 5,000-year-old World Heritage site, Mohenjo-daro, is in the Indus River Valley, which is 508 kilometers from Karachi, . It was built in the Bronze Age.
“Unfortunately we witnessed the mass destruction at the site,” reads a letter from the Cultural, Tourism, & Antiquities Department of Singh state sent to UNESCO and signed by curator Ihsan Ali Abbasi and architect Naveed Ahmed Sangah.”
The letter added that the site was being used as temporary accommodation for surrounding residents whose own homes had flooded.
“On humanitarian grounds we gave them shelter in our quarters, parking areas, shops and ground floor of the museum,” the letter explains.
Currently, an estimated one-third of Pakistan is underwater after monsoon downpours combined with water from melting glaciers.
Most of Moenjodaro’s structures, which were discovered in the 1920s, are above ground and susceptible to environmental damage. Images included in the letter from the site’s guardians show collapsed brick walls and layers of mud covering the site.
The letter explains some of the immediate actions the site team has taken to mitigate the flood damage, like bringing in water pumps, repairing brickwork and cleaning drains.
Abbasi and Sangah end their letter by asking for 100 million Pakistani rupees ($45 million) to cover the costs of full repairs.
Sadly, the conservators of Moenjodaro have known for some time that flooding could pose a serious risk to the site.
Its official UNESCO listing notes that Singh state — which is officially tasked with maintaining Moenjodaro — has flagged the issue before and warned that “a breach of the dam upstream would cause catastrophic damage.”
Moenjodaro’s significance as a historical and architectural site cannot be underestimated. When it was added to UNESCO’s register in 1980, the organization wrote that Moenjodaro “bears exceptional testimony to the Indus civilization,” comprising “the most ancient planned city on the Indian subcontinent.”
During its heyday, the city was a bustling metropolis. There were markets, public baths, a sewage system, and a Buddhist stupa, mostly constructed out of sun-baked brick.
