Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to raise funds to save Mohenjodaro

By Dean Nelson

The son of Benazir Bhutto, Bilawal, is to raise funds to save Mohenjodaro, the 5,000-year-old centre of the Indus Civilisation

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the young Pakistan Peoples Party leader and Bhutto dynasty scion, is to lead an international campaign to save Mohenjodaro, the crumbling ruins of the world's last surviving Bronze Age city. The son of Benazir Bhutto, the late Pakistan prime minister, and former president Asif Zardari inspected the site earlier this month after The Telegraph reported its 5,000-year-old brick walls could turn to dust within 20 years. Mohenjodaro was discovered by colonial officials from the Archelogical Survey of India in 1924 when they excavated a hill on the banks of the Indus River. They uncovered an intact, well-planned urban landscape of large houses on grid-system roads, with their own bathrooms and drainage and sewage systems which would still put many towns in India and Pakistan to shame today. They also recovered a ceremonial public bath, a civic centre, grain stores, a debating hall and artefacts which indicated a system of taxation, weights and measures as well as jewellery, toys and chess-like pieces which highlighted its regard for beauty and recreation. But the site's clay brick walls have now been long-neglected and conservation officials in charge of the site have been starved of the funds needed to preserve it. They need 350 labourers to constantly cover the walls with a protective layer of mud to stop salt crystals from rain and river water destroying the bricks. But on some days there are only 16. The damage is so extensive that officials are considering reburying part of the site until adequate resources are available.Mr Bhutto Zardari told The Telegraph of his "shock and disappointment" after visiting the site and said urgent action was needed to reverse the "neglect, inadequate funding, government and public indifference," responsible for its deterioration. "We must seize the opportunity to stop all this now," he said. The Bhutto family has strong links with Mohenjodaro – they are the largest landlords in the area. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the former prime minister and president, staged an international conference at the site in 1973 to raise global support for its conservation, while Bilawal's mother, the late two-time prime minister Benazir Bhutto, spoke of her pride at being raised in its shadow. Mr Bhutto Zardari called for a "preventive emergency intervention" and pledged to raise international awareness and funds to support it. "The Sindh government will be holding an international conference on Mohenjodaro in the coming months," he said. "I shall be working closely with the Sindh government, private sector as well as international experts to raise funds as well as perhaps restarting excavation of the site."