Daily Times

Larkana: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has ordered an investigation into, and removal of, encroachment on land belonging to the Mohenjo Daro site area.

Advocate Afzal Jagirani filed a constitutional petition in the SHC demanding the removal of all encroachment on Mohenjo Daro lands as well as the maintenance of the area.

He also pointed out that 40 unique and rare historical artifacts had been stolen from the museum 15 years ago; however they had yet to be recovered by the concerned police station.

On the orders of the SHC, the revenue department carried out a demarcation of the area and submitted a report. It stated that in total 48.5 acres of land had been encroached upon by land grabbers.

From the total area, paddy had been sown on 37 acres, while 11.5 acres were occupied by people who had established their villages, namely Imam Bux Malah and Dhand.

The report further noted that 8 acres land had been retrieved by removing the Imam Bux Malah village while the output of the paddy crop had been sold in the market. However, the 3.5 acres land over which the Dhand village had been built had not been removed.

The Larkana Deputy Commissioner Kashif Ali Tipu, on the SHC’s orders, wrote a letter to the Mohenjo Daro World Heritage monuments curator, asking for details on land encroachment by the Dhand village residents.

The deputy commissioner presented a report to the court which included the names of the Dhand land encroachers so that action could be taken against them. He was directed to submit a further report on the matter and remove all encroachments before the next case hearing on February 01.