Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro

a) Lack of appropriate conservation work;

b) Deterioration of structures;

c) Suspension of management system.

Total amount provided to the property: USD 23,500,000 (total of contributions for the International Safeguarding Campaign for Moenjodaro)

On 3 March 2023, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/138/documents and reports on progress of works carried out from August 2022 to March 2023 following the August 2022 monsoon flooding (totalling about 0.64 metres of rain) and presents a framework for preservation efforts in the coming years, including as a strategy to cope with natural hazards and the effects of climate change:

• The property has chronically suffered from multiple causes of decay since its discovery, including salinity, drainage and thermal issues, the rising ground water table, and capillary action. The walls’ surface decay has led to the risk of collapse and structural damage by hydration/dehydration process of salt, rain and extreme thermal stress. The UNESCO International Campaign dealt with these technical issues for years;
• The Indus River shows a tendency to move westward toward the archaeological remains, threatening the existence of the site;
• The August 2022 monsoon flooding resulted in severe structural damage to several parts of the property, including the collapse of walls (25 to 30 cases) and cavities in structures due to the loss of mud and bricks. The erosion of slopes and mud pushta weakened the foundations of walls and structures. The drainage system was also affected, causing an accumulation of water in the ruins up to the level of two feet. Overall, the damage remains minimal, despite the magnitude of the natural disaster. All significant attributes are still present and maintained;
• The management authority of Sindh took prompt action in cooperation with the World Heritage Centre, which provided emergency assistance funding to send two emergency technical missions in October 2022 and January 2023;
• Works carried out from August 2022 to March 2023 include, amongst others, de-slitting and removal of debris, renewal of mud cappings and resetting loose bricks, repointing, and construction of burnt brick buttressing and steel shoring. Conservation and rehabilitation works continue, including improvements to drainage channels and strengthening foundations;
• This situation prompted the State Party to start updating the management tools (50 year-old Master Plan, 25 year-old Conservation Manual) to cope with the current conservation issues and integrate risk preparedness due to climate change and natural disasters, along with capacity building.

UNESCO launched one of its earliest international heritage preservation campaigns for this site from 1974, in response to an appeal from the Pakistani Government. After the site’s inscription on the World Heritage List in 1980, the campaign lasted until 1997 and mobilised around USD 8 million and included large-scale conservation measures and national capacity-building activities. Thanks to the campaign, an estimated 150 million people around the world were informed about Moenjodaro and the ancient Indus civilization.

While the international campaign continued the monitoring and preservation work for this 240 ha-large site, the property continued to suffer from complex conservation issues. Although the natural disaster of August 2022 did not definitively destroy the attributes of its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), the impacts are reportedly significant across the site, with issues of drainage and water stagnation. In addition, several quarters suffer from damages to foundations and walls. These issues have also been exacerbating persisting concerns, such as the fragilized foundations, salinity, humidity and surface erosion.

Following the visit of the UN Secretary General Mr Antonio Guterres on site on 10 September 2022, the UNESCO Director-General announced the mobilization of USD350,000 to help recovering flood-damaged cultural heritage sites in Pakistan. The Committee may wish to appreciate the two emergency missions sent to Moenjodaro from 21 to 29 October 2022 and from 13 to 24 January 2023 under the World Heritage Emergency Assistance scheme, which provided rapid assessment and established a roadmap for future recovery actions. The UNESCO Heritage Emergency Fund (HEF) also contributed to include culture and heritage into the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) for Pakistan.

The emergency missions concluded that both the physical damages resulting from the flooding and the need to revisit the overall conservation strategy should be addressed in the short-, medium- and long-term. The remedial actions taken by the management authorities and motivated staff have provided valuable first aid, and the property needs regular intervention and funding to support the normal preservation actions and strengthen its resilience towards possible future threats, which may be worsened by the impacts of climate change and the increased recurrence of natural disasters.

Therefore, the State Party should be requested to take action, starting by finalising the identification of the damages resulting from the August 2022 rains and the associated condition assessments. This is a prerequisite to validate the urgent actions that must be conducted to safeguard the most vulnerable segments of the property. The analysis of the major deterioration factors should continue, which will help improve the treatment materials. The emergency measures applied following the flooding should be reviewed for efficacy and appropriateness before they are adopted as a conservation framework.

The Committee could invite the State Party to request UNESCO’s collaboration in launching a fundraising and international cooperation appeal to secure financial and technical resources. Such an appeal could lead to the elaboration of a multiannual technical project, which should include the restoration of the fragilized parts of the property, necessary work to rehabilitate the site-wide drainage system, lead to a thorough review and updating of the existing management tools and to the establishment of a Management Plan listing the actions to address the short-, medium- and long-term conservation issues. The work on the revision of the 1997 Conservation Manual is welcomed and will need to cope with contemporary needs, and human capacities must be enhanced to cope with the current and future needs of the property.

The Committee may wish to request the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to the property in order to evaluate the state of conservation of the property, provide advice on the planning of the abovementioned work and assist the State Party in planning technical interventions.