Archaeology official defends renovation at heritage site.

KARACHI -- The Sindh culture, antiquities, tourism and archives department has contested several archaeology experts' views regarding renovation or alteration at heritage sites and argued that such works to conserve, protect and strengthen monuments without harming their originality and shape did not violate the relevant international charter.

Referring to a report published in Dawn's Jan 16 issue regarding the renovation work carried out at a monument in Makli necropolis, Sindh archaeology director general Manzoor Kanasro in a communication defended the renovation of Mirza Isa Khan Turkhan mausoleum.

He insisted that it was in fact conservation work that had been carried out at the monument. He said the work had been carried out in 2019 as per the internationally recognised conservation charter/manual under strict supervision of 'very senior and well-trained conservationists having more than 30 years of experience of working on all world heritage sites of Pakistan'.

The communication said that the Sindh culture, tourism, antiquities and archives department always carried out conservation and preservation work on all archaeological sites following the Venice Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites that provided the guidelines drawn up in 1964 by a group of conservation professionals in Venice.

Rejecting the experts' criticism of replacement of the monument's floor, Mr Kanasro made it clear that a study had already found that the material used in laying the floor was not original.

To substantiate his claim, he quoted excerpts from the study and said that the thickness of the original stone used in the other monuments [at the necropolis] was four inches whereas that of the [removed] stones used in the Isa Khan monument's floor was 1.5 to two inches. The...