The Digital Heritage Trails Project at the TDF MagnifiScience Center brings 5 endangered archaeological sites to life
A section of the exhibition The Lost cities of the Indus Delta is photographed here. SOURCE: EXPRESS TRIBUN
A striking exhibition is on display at the TDF MagnifiScience Center in Karachi. The exhibition, which was launched today (Saturday), sheds light on the ancient maritime civilization of the Indus Delta and the environmental threats that endanger its future.
“Lost Cities of the Indus Delta,” the product of a two-year Digital Heritage Trails Project (DHTP), uses 3D modeling, interactive displays and storytelling to bring to life five endangered archaeological sites that once flourished as global trade hubs.
According to the event management, the exhibition must be a permanent installation at the MagnifiScience Centre.
An interactive virtual reality exhibition for Lahiri Bandar, a famous port town located in present day Mirpur Sakro Taluka, Thatta.
“This project has brought history, science and learning under one roof,” said Favad Soomro, CEO of The Dawood Foundation, urging young people to reconnect with the past to become responsible citizens of tomorrow. It provides an invaluable tool to help the public understand the importance of protecting heritage, he added.
Part of the interactive exhibition showing an archaeological puzzle
Amer Bazl Khan, director of maritime research and project manager, described the exhibition as the culmination of years of research aimed at turning complex data into accessible public experiences.
“We have documented how the centers of gravity have shifted over the centuries. Before Karachi, it was the Indus Delta,” Khan said, explaining how an 11th-century port that was once the fourth largest in India has now shrunk dramatically.
A magnetic map puzzle of Banbhore, a port city that once connected South Asia to Arabia
Fusion of science with history
Khan further emphasized the human aspect of the exhibition, showing the resilience of the people who once thrived in the region. “This project represents many years of fieldwork and research and aims to highlight the trade networks, cultures and daily maritime life of the Indus Delta.”
As part of the initiative, high-resolution 3D models of endangered sites and two documentaries, The Lost Cities of the Indus Delta and Cursed Waterhas been produced. These films have been translated into several languages, including Pakistan Sign Language, with the help of Deaf Reach Karachi, ensuring wider accessibility.
British Deputy High Commissioner Lance Domm said: “It’s important to have exhibitions like these as it gives children something fun to do as well as being informative.”
“It’s important to have informal learning spaces.” Favad Soomro said, “More of these are absolutely needed in our city”.
The waning Delta
The opening of the exhibition coincided with the publication of Cursed Watera documentary that delves into the environmental decline of the Indus Delta. The documentary reveals alarming statistics about the shrinking borders and devastating effects of water scarcity.
The Indus Delta has been reduced from 13,000 square kilometers in 1833 to only 1,667 square kilometers today. Freshwater flow has declined from 150 million acre-feet a century ago to less than 10 million today.
Local landowner Gulab Shah encapsulated the crisis, saying, “Our elders used to say we live in a land where the river flows into the sea. Now we say the sea flows into the river,” poisoning the land with salt and leaving it unusable.
500,000 to 600,000 people have been displaced due to the lack of drinking water and the loss of agricultural land to rising salt levels. For those displaced to the fringes of urban centers like Karachi, the move has eroded their cultural identity and social dignity.
The documentary also shows how the traditional social structures and privacy once afforded to women in rural villages have disappeared in the city, and many children from these displaced families are now forced to beg on the streets.
Watch the Cursed Waters documentary here:
Ahsan Zafar Syed, CEO of Engro Corporation, said: “Despite what we are achieving today, anything we do will be unsustainable without a focus on human development as Pakistan is currently ranked 168th out of 193 on the Human Development Index.”
British High Commissioner Jane Marriott said at the end of the ceremony that Karachi is facing rising sea levels due to climate change, which is directly contributing to the disappearance of the delta communities and cultural heritage sites. Speaking about change and whether anything can be done to prevent this, she said: “I have to believe the answer is yes.”
