KARACHI, Dec 19: Speakers at a seminar on Saturday stressed the need for provision of infrastructure in the mountainous areas of Sindh to promote tourism which in turn would greatly improve the quality of life of over three million people living in the rugged mountainous terrain of the province.

The seminar on Mountains of Sindh was organized jointly by the People’s Doctors Forum and the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) as part of the events being held to observe this year as the ‘International Year of Mountains’.

Consul General of Switzerland Julius Anderegg, Sindh Environment and Alternate Energy Secretary Shamsul Haq Memon, Dr G. A. Allana, Dr Javed Leghari, Dr Shamim Ahmad Shaikh, M. H. Panhwar, Dr Sulaiman Shaikh, Dr Allah Nawaz Samoon, Noor Ahmed Janjhi, Dr Mahmood Iqbal Memon, Anwer Pirzado, Sirajul Haque, Dr Hussain Bux Kolachi, Dr Farooq Rehman Soomro, Karim Khwaja and others spoke at the seminar, which was conducted by Shazia Abbasi.

They said that the mountains of Sindh, particularly Khirthar Range in the west and Karoonjhar hills in the southeast which had a number of archaeologically, culturally and historically important sites, had great tourism potential.

They regretted that tourism, one of the most important service industry in the world involving billions of dollars annually, had not yet been given its due place in Pakistan and no concrete steps had been taken to develop infrastructure in the mountains regions.

They said that if developed properly, tourism could greatly contribute to the economic progress of the hilltop people, besides contributing to the national and provincial exchequers.

They demanded that infrastructure, particularly for communications, be immediately developed in these under-developed areas to attract local and foreign tourists who would obviously bring in and spend money. This would ultimately help improve the quality of life of local people, at present living in subhuman conditions.

They also called for comprehensive studies to collect proper and accurate information regarding the presence of natural resources in the mountains and their quality so that proper planning could be done to exploit them for the benefit of people.

The speakers pointed out that whatever information available about the areas, it suggested that huge deposits of various natural resources, such as granite, sulphur, silica sand, limestone, fuller’s earth, etc, were present. They emphasized on efforts to be made to exploit these resources.

They demanded preservation of important archaeological sites, like Rani Kot, probably the largest fort in the region. They also regretted that even the most important archaeological site of the Indus Valley civilization, Moenjodaro, was not being preserved properly. They said that wall paintings and drawings had been discovered in various caves in the Khirthar Range which suggested that people lived there even before the Moenjodaro period.

They said that Jain temples in the Karoonjhar Hills, mosque of Bhoddisar, Temple of Gori, when looked closely appeared beautifully constructed in a resembling style. Their construction and dimensions are of fine quality, indicating the Parkar terrain, once a centre of artisans. The remains of Pari Nagar, once one of the busiest ports of Sindh at the tip of Rann of Kutch, and its anchorage at Doo-ptar (the word means two landing places), can be preserved and developed as they have great potential of becoming important tourist attractions.

Pointing out the scarcity of water in the mountainous regions, they said womenfolk sometimes had to walk several miles to fetch water. They suggested that small check dams could be built in Khirthar Range and Karoonjhar Range to store rainwater for the local population.

They further suggested long term soft loans to be extended to the locals for their livelihood. In this regard they mentioned the trades of regional handicrafts, embroidery, needlework, wood-work and leather goods, etc, which could be promoted for the benefit of the artisans and in the interest of the local economy.