High-level committee to determine status of Karoonjhar Mountains

The scenic Karoonjhar M o u n t a i n s i n Nangarparkar, Tharparkar district, suffering from decadence due to human activity for decades will see high-level research to decide its status as heritage. The Sindh High Court has ordered the constitution of a committee of experts, which will decide whether the mountain is a heritage site. The Hyderabad circuit bench, comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Amjad Ali Sahito directed the provincial chief secretary to form a committee consisting of experts on geology and heritage within seven days.

The committee, headed by the Sindh culture secretary, has been given six months to complete the exercise though it will have to submit monthly interim reports. The experts have been asked to study the history, unique features and cultural significance of the mountain as well as the quality of clay. If the experts find sufficient evidence to add the site in the heritage list, the same should be done under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904, and Sindh Culture Heritage Preservation Act, 1994, the order reads. "The excavation of granite from there [Karoonjhar] is also a known fact which also needs to be examined… if the excavation is at the cost of the heritage the same needs to be stopped." The bench directed that even if the case of declaring the mountain a place of heritage is not established, the granite excavation should be regularised to maximise revenue generation for the government.

"Both the aspects are sufficient to convince that… in particular the culture and tourism department is required to take notice of such a place," the order reads. The SHC has further directed the provincial government to consider enlistment of the mountain among world heritage sites after the committee determines its status. The mountains, 1,000 to 1,100 feet high, are spread across an area of around 30 square kilometres. The petitioners have attached cultural, traditional, religious and historic importance to the site. They prayed the court to invite UNESCO to examine the site. The court noted that Nangarparkar taluka, where Karoonjhar is located, has a number of religious and historical places. The bench also noted the reference of a book by researcher Mashkoor Phulkaro, titled 'Saravati Tehzeeb ain Achro Thar' [Sarasvati civilisation and the white desert].

According to the researcher, the range consists of 109 hills and 108 holy sites. Prior to the litigation, several activists from Tharparkar started a campaign last year to protect the mountains, especially from the interests of excavating granite and clay. The protests, which started from Tharparkar, spread to many other districts enlisting political support as well.