Heritage screening · know before you build
Heritage Impact screening
What this page is — and is not
This is a preliminary heritage-risk and information-screening guide. It is not a formal Heritage Impact Assessment, a statutory approval, an archaeological clearance, a planning permission, an expert conservation opinion, or proof that a project is compliant. It explains how to screen a location against compiled public records and flags where a professional Heritage Impact Assessment is required. An independent civil-society initiative — not a government platform.
Planning construction, a road, utilities, or a development scheme? Before any ground is broken, screen the location against Pakistan’s 684 legally protected sites and 6 World Heritage properties. This page gives you the law, the distances, and the method.
What the law says
s.22, Antiquities Act 1975: no development plan, scheme or new construction on or within 200 feet (60.96 m) of a protected immovable antiquity except with the approval of the competent authority — notwithstanding any other law.
UNESCO Operational Guidelines, para 118bis: Heritage Impact Assessment for major projects near World Heritage properties.
Operational Guidelines, para 172: prior notification to the World Heritage Committee before works that may affect Outstanding Universal Value.
The three screening distances
200 ft — statutory zone
The s.22 legal perimeter around every protected immovable antiquity. Construction inside it requires approval of the competent authority. This is the hard legal line.
500 m — WHS corridor
Within half a kilometre of a World Heritage property, assume buffer-zone and setting obligations apply and a professional HIA is needed before works proceed.
1 km — visual corridor
Within a kilometre of a World Heritage property, tall or large works can affect the property’s setting and visual integrity — screen for para 118bis/172 obligations.
The six World Heritage properties
| Property | Province | Coordinates (lat, lon) | Inscribed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro | Sindh | 27.3292, 68.1389 | 1980 |
| Buddhist Ruins of Takht-i-Bahi and Sahr-i-Bahlol | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 34.2863, 71.9465 | 1980 |
| Taxila | Punjab | 33.7459, 72.8291 | 1980 |
| Historical Monuments at Makli, Thatta | Sindh | 24.7615, 67.9011 | 1981 |
| Fort and Shalamar Gardens in Lahore | Punjab | 31.5880, 74.3142 | 1981 |
| Rohtas Fort | Punjab | 32.9654, 73.5770 | 1997 |
How to screen a location
- Find your coordinates. Read latitude/longitude from your survey plan or any mapping app at the project site.
- Check the World Heritage table above. If you are within roughly 1 km of any of the six properties, stop and commission a professional HIA; within 500 m, treat buffer-zone obligations as engaged.
- Check the national Atlas. Open pak-heritage.site, search your district, and list every catalogued place near the project. Each record page carries coordinates and protection status.
- Apply the 200-foot rule. If any legally protected site lies within 200 feet (61 m) of the works, s.22 requires the competent authority’s approval before anything proceeds.
- When in doubt, ask. Contact the provincial archaeology department or the federal DOAM — and engage a qualified heritage professional for a formal HIA.
The interactive simulator
An interactive map-based checker (test any coordinates against all 684 protected sites and the WHS corridors, with a printable requirements memo, in English and Urdu) exists as a PWHI prototype and is scheduled for a later release phase — it requires scripting this site’s strict no-JavaScript security policy currently rules out. The method above reaches the same conclusions manually.
Distances are straight-line. This page is indicative only, is not legal advice, and does not substitute for consultation with the competent federal or provincial authority, survey-grade measurement, or a formal Heritage Impact Assessment. Suggested citation: PWHI, “Heritage Impact Screening”, pak-heritage.forum/hia.