Islamabad: The ancient city of Mohenjo Daro which highlights the features of primitive culture was one of the world’s earliest major urban settlements.
The remnants of the city are now in danger as they are crumbling away due to the natural activities going on in the environments.
The ancient city which is said to have been rediscovered about 100 years ago, is believed to be existed before 4000 years ago.
The rediscovered city was on the banks of the River Indus in the province of Sind, in Pakistan.
Along with another historical site, Harappa, the city represented the very earliest civilization in the region, competing those people in Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Mohenjo Daro was a city which had been constructed with good planning foresight.
There were exceptional amenities in that city during that period.
The houses in the city were furnished with brick-built bathrooms while many had even lavatories.
Waste water from these cities were led into well-constructed drainage that ran along the center of the streets, covered with bricks.
Since these areas are now under the threat of terrorism, authorities are concerned about the safety of the region. Even though the city has got archaeological importance, tourism as well as heritage are not encouraging by the government.
The small museum which houses ancient artifacts of that period, is found to be poorly arranged and uninterestingly managed.
Only a small part of the city is known to have been excavated. The remnants are now crumbling down. Exposed walls are falling apart from the base up.
This may be due to the salinity in the ground water which is capable to destroy the bricks that had survived for thousands of years.
The location has such valuable materials to teach about urban planning and a country’s history.
As the remnants of the city are vanishing, it should be given over to the care of external conservationists.
It is high time to inspire the authorities here to do something to conserve this vital part of the primitive history.
Certainly the news of the recent motiveless destruction of ancient sites in the Middle East has made many wonder about the need for protecting these locations.
Video on the ancient civilization in Mohenjo Daro
