UNESCO Heritage Site Damaged Due To Floods In Pakistan
Intiqab Rawoof
September 7, 2022
One of the world’s oldest preserved human settlements has been significantly damaged by torrential rain in Pakistan. This was the worst floods in its history.
Moenjodaro a World Heritage site in the Indus River Valley 508 kilometers (316 miles) from Karachi, was built in the Bronze Age, some 5,000 years ago.
“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 adds 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.
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