Govt asked to undo ‘reconstruction’ at Taxila sites

THE reconstruction work, carried out over old walls, is easily discernible at the Mohra Moradu site.—Dawn • Unesco seeks record of renovations at Mohra Moradu and Sirkap, warns of their relegation to ‘danger list’• Punjab archaeology department defends ‘interventions’ as conservation measures to protect vulnerable archaeological remains ISLAMABAD: The UN’s cultural arm, Unesco, has asked the government to reverse the “reconstructions” that undermined the integrity of two historical sites in Taxila, warning that a failure to take such action would result in their being placed on the agency’s ‘danger list’. Sources in the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture told Dawn that, in a recent meeting on the issue, Unesco told senior government officials that it had “delisted” a World Heritage Site in Germany and would not hesitate to “delist” Taxila over the recent “unnecessary interventions” that compromised the integrity and authenticity of these places. It said the UN agency would “delist” Taxila from its World Heritage List if the actions were not reversed. The issue came into the spotlight in March after a third party shared information and pictures with Pakistan’s Permanent Dele­gate to Unesco in Paris, highlighting reconstruction works by the Punjab archaeology department at Mohra Moradu and Sirkap. The visitor observed interventions that could affect the authenticity and integrity of the property, specifically original walls being replaced with new construction or their height being raised. Subsequently, Unesco cautioned that unnecessary interventions compromised the authenticity and integrity of these sites and could put them at risk of being placed on the Unesco ‘danger list’. Photos seen by Dawn showed that fresh masonry works had rep­laced some ancient walls. In some instances, reconstruction was carried out to increase the height of the walls “in the name of conservation”, but it was easy to discern between old stones — which are irregular in size — and mod