MOHANJEDARO 

Context

Key points 

• In the 1960s, hydrologist Robert L Raikes and archaeologist George F Dales put forward the theory that a series of floods on the Indus around c. 1800 Bc had wiped out the great urban centres of the Harappan civilization.
• The prehistoric antiquity of Mohenjo-Daro flourished on the right (West) bank of the Indus in the 3rd millennium BC.
• It was established by Rakhal Das Banerji of the Archaeological Survey of India in 1922.
• The ruins of the sprawling city of unbaked (burnt) brick 510 km northeast of Karachi and 28 km from Larkana in Sindh were recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1980.

Damage at the site

• Authorities in Sindh have called for urgent attention towards conservation and restoration work at the site, for fear that it might be removed from the World Heritage list.

• Between August 16 and 26, the archaeological ruins of Mohenjo Daro received a record 779.5 mm of rain, which resulted in " Considerable damage to the site and partial falling of several walls, including the protection wall of the Stupa dome".
• The ruins did not remain safe from the devastating effects of downpours and the DK Area, Muneer Area, Stupa, Great Bath and other important sites of these ruins have been badly affected by the natural disaster.
• The Paris Stairs, the Stupa and the DK Area are particularly in the worst condition.
• The site curator said that although these ruins are not inundated with water, still persistent rainfall has eroded them.

• Much of the Mohenjo Daro including the iconic Mound of the Dead site, had been ravaged by floodwaters, with excavated areas being damaged as the water seeps through and creates furrows as it fills out the site.
• Modhenjo Daro is facing the danger of obliteration after braving the monstrosity of recent flash floods and torrential rains and the entry of tourists to the site had been prohibited.
• Along with Harappa, Mohenjo Daro is the best-known site of the bronze age urban civilization that flourished in the valley of the Indus between roughly 3,300 BC and 1,300 BC, with its mature phase spanning the period 2, 600 BC to 1, 900 BC.
• The Civilization went into decline in the middle of the second millennium BC for reasons that are believed to include catastrophic climate change.

• The ruins of Mohenjo Daro remained undocumented until Banerji visited the site in 1920 and began digging the following year.
• Excavation continued in phases until 1964-65; even now only a portion of the site has been excavated.
• The site is famous for its elaborate town planning with street grids with brick pavements, developed water supply, drainage and covered sewerage systems, homes with toilets and monumental buildings such as the Great Granary and the Great Bath.
• At its peak, Mohenjo Daro, literally "Mound of the Dead" is estimated to have between 30, 000 and 60, 000 residents with a highly evolved social organisation.

Saving the site

• A few reports from Pakistan stated that even though the site has suffered damage in the heavy rain, it has now not been flooded.
• UN Secretary-trendy Antonio Guterres has introduced plans to visit Pakistan and he would visit the site as properly this week.
• paintings on putting off soil and silt from drains on the site are ongoing.

UNSEO 

• There are around 1, 100 UNSEO listed sites across its 167 member countries.
• Last year, the World Heritage Committee decided to delete "Liverpool-Maritime Mercantile city" in the United Kingdom from the World Heritage list due to "The irreversible loss of attributes conveying the outstanding universal value of the property".