Dinesh A TO Z INDIA AUGUST 2022 PAGE 10 Lothal, Southern Gujarat, India World's oldest dockyard, India: Picture of the Month: World's oldest dockyard (or water reservoir) in Lothal, southern Gujarat, an IVC city dating back to 2400 BCE, Indus valley civilization, India. This large rectangular, water-filled structure may look like a reservoir, but is in fact an ancient dock, and one of the oldest in the world. It is located at the site of the ancient city of Lothal situated about 85 kilometers south of A hmedabad, in the state of Gujarat, in India. Lothal is one of the few sites within the Indus Valley Civilization that is accessible from India. Lothal is believed to be at least 5,000 years old and was the only port-town of the Indus Valley Civilization. Lothal’s dock connected the city to the Sabarmati river which was an important trade route between Harappan cities in Sindh (now in Pakistan) and th e peninsula of Saurashtra. At that time, the surrounding Kutch desert of was a part of the Arabian Sea.