RBOD: a potential threat to Amri relics

Today in southwestern Sindh, the Right Bank Outfall Drainage-extension canal is being dug from Sehwan Sharif to Gharo, and on its way it is running through the unique and internationally recognized archeological site of Amri, cir. 3,400 BCE.

By Sameeta Ahmed

“Amri represents a complete story of the beginning, development and decline of the world-famous Indus Valley Civilization. It must be protected at all costs,” according to Dr. M. Rafique Mughal, Professor of Archaeology and Heritage Management at Boston University, and former Director-General of Archaeology and Museums in Pakistan. Culturally, Amri's earliest levels are linked with the earliest cultures of the Indus Valley and Balochistan with Radiocarbon dates going back to 3,400 BCE. The settlement continued during the time of Moenjodaro (2500 -2000/ 1500 BCE) and was re-inhabited during the Islamic period. In the 1920s the Archeological Survey of India excavated distinct polychrome ceramic wares here with similarities found in adjoining sites. The site was re-excavated by a French team in the 1960s. In these modest-sized mounds, layers of remnant stone masonry, burnt clay brick (of unique historic dimensions), mud brick and ceramic wares have been found, even in the limited area of the excavations conducted until now. 'Amri Culture' became a term used by archeologists to denote the settlements and culture in the region that predated even Moenjodaro.

The set of archeological remains at Amri forms a “protected site” listed with the Federal Government's Department of Archaeology (DOA)  thus any new development in its surrounds is legally required by the Antiquities Act-1975 to stay clear of it by 200 feet. However, the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD), a venture of the Irrigation and Power Department, Government of Sindh, was planned to run directly between the two main mounds of the site. According to DOA sources, the RBOD Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) team on its own was not referring to, and accommodating in their design proposal the 'protected monuments list' as they are legally required to by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But at the last minute, while the RBOD's EIA was being prepared and when they were alerted by the DOA about the official protected status of the site, the RBOD project authorities presented two other options for realigning the canal path in December 2002. The drain could be looped wide around the mounds towards the Indus River to leave the required 200 feet, a considerably more expensive option. Or, it could be placed on the other side, tightly between the adjacent Indus Highway and Mound B, leaving barely 10 feet between the drain canal and the visible rise of the mound, but still seeming to 'save the mounds' from the originally planned direct hit, even if it was still violating the 200 feet clause. However, considerable damage has already occurred at the site, with the canal excavation cutting across the immediate periphery of the base of the mound. It is a given in archeology that this kind of a mound is just the tip of the iceberg indicating a larger body of historic habitation remains below, and the remains exposed and 'run over' at this spot are testimony to this. So, in effect, the 10 feet buffer is not protecting the remains at all, it is merely not touching the small tip above ground level, and even that will ultimately be damaged when the canal starts operating.

This highway-side option, officially leaving the '10 foot buffer', was adopted in the design of the project, with RBOD project authorities claiming that there was an unwritten 'understanding' with the DOA that this was acceptable. The DOA asserts that even then, there was a stipulation on its part that it would base its decision on an archeological Salvage Excavation that it would conduct. If this investigation revealed previously unexcavated historic material of 'positive significance' on that highway-side edge of the site, the route would have to be reconsidered. However, the drainage canal actually started being dug out on that side before the DOA's Salvage Excavation took place there in May-June 2006, and its report submitted by the Exploration and Excavation Branch to the Islamabad head office in October 2006. One assumes that the apparently 'significant' finds of the archeological investigation are the basis for which the DOA says that it has still not granted the final, official 'written' NOC required by the RBOD project. However, the Salvage Excavation Report is not being made public by DOA high-ups, and has not even been officially shared with the department's own Director in Sindh.

Legally, the EPA's 'Guidelines for Sensitive Critical Areas' have to be followed in any development project design and considered in its Environmental Impact Assessment before project approval by the government agency. These Guidelines include a listing of the federal DOA's officially protected historic sites that must be respected under the framework of the Antiquities Act of 1975. If the project design simply follows the guidelines and does not show any intrusion upon the sites, the EPA directly grants approval. Only if there is an unusual case demanding special attention, is the Director-General of the DOA consulted for 'determining the allowable degree of development', based on his discerning judgment and reasons which do not have to be officially disclosed. Without the NOC having been issued by the Director-General-DOA to the RBOD project, after its case was brought to his attention, the construction at Amri should not have begun at all.

RBOD authorities claim that they 'will continue with work' regardless, since 'a realignment has already been made in the project to accommodate the site'. Considerable damage is already done, but if the Drain construction is completed and it actually starts functioning, the thousands of cusecs of flow will soon inundate the rest of the mound, regardless of assurances by project authorities that a 'CC lining' especially provided on that strip would stop seepage.

At Amri, a furlong away from the banks of the Indus is the original cultural landscape of an important phase in history. The drastic RBOD canal-building will completely destroy this precious world-class site and its setting irreversibly. We cannot afford to lose one of the world's oldest heritage sites.           

(Sameeta Ahmed, Architect, NED, Karachi).