EDITORIAL: Our Staff Reporter`s account of the salvaging of the dismantled arch of the famous Shah Jehan Mosque of Thatta and its reconstruction in Karachi`s Burns Garden ...

brings to light the prefunctoriness that sometimes characterises the official approach to the preservation of the country`s archaeological treasures. It is apparent from the story that chance was a key factor in the miraculous recovery of the precious relic which was demolished ... by the Provincial PWD as part of the renovation of the ... mosque and discarded as a heap of rubble. As it happened, the inquiring eye of an expert ... spotted the fragmented stone pieces. ... The finding led to the recovery of the inscribed stone slabs. ...

It is plain that but for the chance discovery, this priceless relic would have been irretrievably lost to posterity.

The whole episode raises wide and important issues pertaining to the maintenance and preservation of antiquities. ... The ... episode should serve as a pointer to the need for ... well conceived rules and procedures for better planning and execution of schemes relating to the renovation, restoration and preservation of archaeological sites and monuments.