TAXILA: Despite being protected under the Antiquities Act and listed in Unesco’s “world cultural heritage site”, Sirkap, the second ancient city of Taxila, is in a shambles owing to the apathy of the archeology department.

The signboards for tourists’ information are almost unreadable, and if tourists visit the area they are greeted by wild grass and broken benches.

A large number of local and foreign tourists visit the ruins of this important city of the ancient Taxila civilization.

However, they are stunned to see the poor condition of the site and lack of tourist facilities as almost 70 per cent of the ruins are covered with wild grass and bushes.

Two boards have been installed at the site for the information of the tourists.

One of the boards shows the map plan of the city and the other, written in both English and Urdu languages, mentions the historical background of the remains.

However, even these two boards have not been maintained and have become unreadable.

Another information board on Pena flex is also in tatters and needs urgent repair.

It may be mentioned that the remains of Sirkap belonged to four distinct periods of pre-Greek, Greeks, Scythians and Parthians.

The city was founded approximately in the first quarter of the 2nd century BC by the Bactrian Greek king Menander.

The city was well planned and fortified. The builders introduced their ionic and Corinthian orders of architecture at Sirkap.

The Greek influence enhanced further under their successors Scythians and Parthians.

The Parthian king Gondophares following the Greek pattern rebuilt the city with its main street in the middle studded with shops and places of worship like the Apsidal Temple, the Sun Temple, the double-headed eagle stupa and the king’s palace close to the eastern gate.

According to archaeologists, Sirkap was built according to the “Hippodamian” grid-plan characteristic of Greek cities.

It is organized around one main avenue and fifteen perpendicular streets, covering a surface of around 1200x400 metres, with a surrounding wall 5-7 metres wide and 4.8 kilometres long.

The ruins are Greek in character, similar to those of Olynthus in Macedonia.

Despite knowing the archeological significance and tourist destination, officials of the federal department of archaeology and museums are least interested in preserving the site.

The major portion of the site is crumbling due to the lack of proper maintenance and clearance of wild grass and bushes.

When contacted, deputy director department of archaeology and museums Irshad Hussain said after devolution the department had been handed over to the provincial government and faced paucity of funds.

He said whenever the department got the requisite funds the restoration and preservation work would be carried out.