LARKANA: Lack of attention of the department of archaeology has given a free hand to land grabbers to encroach upon land in the vicinity of archaeological sites in the district, including the tomb of Shah Baharo, located in the city near fruit and vegetable market.
Over 20 families have constructed houses at the site after demolishing graves, sources in the department said.
The intrusion that began in 1980-81 still continues amidst ineffective and insufficient measures to discourage the practice.
Mohammed Bakhsh Magsi, a primary teacher in collusion with land grabbers, has not only constructed his house but is also selling land after bulldozing graves, the department confirmed.
The department kept raising the matter with the revenue department for ‘demarcation’ of the land which encompasses the tomb of Shah Baharo and the graveyard around it. The District Coordination Officer of Larkana has referred the matter to Mukhtiarkar for urgent measurement.
A cursory eye on the existing condition of the tomb unveils the volume of negligence of the department. The outer bricks of the tomb are crumbling while the platform to the entrance is damaged.
The inscriptions on the glazed tiles have also faded with no replacement in sight.
People, unconcerned with the vanishing beauty and historical background of the tomb of a general of Kalhora period, have ruthlessly trampled over the history.
When this correspondent visited the site, no attendant of the department was seen there. The old wooden gate itself speaks of the degree of negligence by the concerned authorities.
The Persian inscriptions, quite readable on the main gate are fast vanishing and if the situation remains unchanged, the inscriptions depicting the history would disappear.
A visit to the shrine reveals how the broken tiles are collected and kept in the windows of the tomb for further decay.
The repair and maintenance work carried out in past is invisible now and the tomb badly needs repair and restoration coupled with the immediate removal of the encroachments from the site.
TAJJAR BUILDING: Tajjar building is another famous old structure, situated in the heart of the city, is similarly ignored by the departments concerned.
Tajjar building was built in 1833 in Larkana as the temporary resting place for Nawab Wali Mohammad Leghari, a prime minister of the Khairpur state. He was buried temporarily during Kalhora period in this building and then his grave was relocated to Hyderabad.
Prior to his death, Nawab Leghari and later British officials used this building as public meeting place, anthropologist Manzoor Kohyar said.
In Z.A. Bhutto’s days restoration and renovation work began on this building, which was declared as protected monument on May 20, 1980.
Shafqat Hussain Unnar, former assistant resident director of Pakistan National Centre had handed over the possession of Tajjar building to Ms Salma Sultana, custodian archaeology museum of Mohenjodaro on October 7, 1981 along with a two-room quarter.
Gulab Khan Metlo, the caretaker of Tajjar building, in an open kutchari on June 3, 2008 brought to the notice of the then DCO Larkana that Rasool Bakhsh Solangi, a peon of Larkana Municipal Committee, had encroached upon the two-room quarter. The matter is still pending.
JHUKAR-JO-DARO: Just eight kilometers away from Larkana on Larkana-Karachi road is Jhukar-jo-daro which, with the ravages of time, vanishes bit by bit.
Just in a visit you would see a rice mill, a brick kiln, rice fields and many houses constructed around this protected site where you seldom find any attendant to stop visitors and locals from inflicting damages to this historical site.
Paddy cultivation becomes a common practice around it which harms both the ruins and the history while frequent encroachments have disfigured this protected site.
In the recent past deputy director Mazhar Ali Mirani of the department of archaeology, following a visit to the site, had in a report maintained that unchecked encroachment was damaging the ruins.
The site, spreading over 40 acres of land, was being used as firing range for the recruits of police training school Larkana.
The curator of archaeological museum, Mohenjodaro, in a letter to the Larkana DCO on August 13, 2008 had indicated towards this practice. This site falls under the administrative control of the curator of Mohenjodaro.
The site is protected under the Antiquity Act 1975, the curator said.
Bullet empties are commonly found on the site while unauthorised digging of the site at different portions by the locals has further damaged the site, sources in the department said.
The adjoining villagers more often find artefacts particularly during the rainy season and sometimes they sell them out at good prices. This demands urgent measures to protect the sites.
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