MOHENJO DARO, meaning "Mound of the Dead", is located in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the most ancient and best-preserved urban ruin in South Asia and dates back to the beginning of the 3rd millennium B.C. It has exercised a considerable influence on the subsequent development of urbanization of that region. The archaeological site is located on the right bank of the Indus River, 400 km from Karachi. It flourished for about 800 years during the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C. The center of the Indus Valley Civilization, one of the largest of its times, this 5,000-year-old city is the earliest manifestation of urbanization in South Asia. Its urban planning surpasses that of many other sites of the oriental civilizations that were to follow. Of massive proportions, Mohenjo Daro comprises two sectors: a stupa mound and the lower city ruins spread out along the banks of the Indus. Several buildings are laid out along city streets intersecting each other at right angles, in a highly orderly form of city planning that also incorporated important systems of sanitation and drainage. Of this vast urban ruin of Mohenjo Daro, only about one-third has been revealed by excavation since 1922. The foundations of the site have been threatened by saline action due to a rise of the water table of the Indus River. In 1974, after an appeal from the Pakistan Government, UNESCO launched the International Safeguarding Campaign for Mohenjo Daro. It lasted until 1997 and mobilized around $8 million from its member states for large scale conservation measures which aimed at protecting the site from flooding, implementation of national capacity building activities and for the installation of a conservation and monitoring laboratory. The safeguarding campaign comprised of groundwater control through the installation of tube wells, river training, conservation of structural remains, landscaping and plantation. These activities were conducted by national and international experts with the involvement of the local communities. Thanks to this campaign, an estimated 150 million people around the world, including schoolchildren, were also made aware of Mohenjo Daro and the ancient Indus Valley Civilization. Mohenjo Daro and its sister city Harappa, the two icons of the Indus Valley Civilization, enable Pakistan to be the cradle of one of the four civilizations of antiquities in the world.
