Forced occupation of Kun Purao Lake irks fishermen

They accuse fisheries minister of supporting influential people and land grabbers

KARACHI: Despite abolishing the contract system on freshwater bodies, local influential people in the province have managed to occupy more than 600 sweet water lakes officially recognised by the Sindh government's fisheries department.

The historic Kun Purao Lake, which spreads over 1,000 acres in Sujawal district, is a lake that has been occupied by influential people through the alleged support of Fisheries Minister Muhammad Ali Malkani. According to government documents, there are around 1,219 lakes across Sindh and Kun Purao Lake stands at number 1,150 on the list.



"This is a lake that was visited by founder of Pakistan Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Queen Elizabeth II," said a fishermen, Mohsin Mallah, who belongs to Shah Bunder area. The local people claim that no one but the fisheries minister, who belongs to the area where lake is located, is behind the forced and illegal occupation of the land.

"Around 150 fishing families have lived along the lake bank for the last one-and-a-half century. Now, the local landlord, along with his goons, have threatened the fishermen and registered cases against them, while the police have been conducting raids to arrest our people," claimed Muhammad Mallah, a local fisherman. He added that fisheries minister, who is supposed to help fishermen, has also occupied more than nine lakes in the district, depriving the local fishermen of their basic right of fishing.

Ali Mallah, another fisherman, alleged that the landlords have set up generators along the bank of the lake, with the aim to dewater the historic body of water. "They want to convert it into agricultural land and sell it at a throwaway price," he claimed.



Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum Chairperson Muhammad Ali Shah told The Express Tribune that he contacted the fisheries minister, who allegedly supports the land grabbers. "The lake is recognised by the government but the fisheries minister, instead of supporting the fishermen, is giving lame excuses in favour of the landlord and his goons," Shah said, adding that they have started a campaign against the illegally occupied lake and will seek the support of other civil society organisations.

"We held a meeting with the representatives of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and we will file a constitutional petition against this," he said. "When there was a contract system on fresh water bodies, the fishermen were not allowed to fish in these lakes and the lakes used to be auctioned to different influential people, who used to sell fish in markets and earned millions of rupees," Shah claimed. He added that the government has now abolished the contract system, acknowledging fishermen's rights on lakes.

"Everyone is free to go fishing but unfortunately the influential people are not willing to give up the illegally occupied lake," Shah said, adding that designated fishermen are issued licences by fisheries department for fishing. "Even for this lake [Kun Purao Lake], many bona fide fishermen have been issued licences but the local landlords do not allow them to go fishing in this lake," he said.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, the fisheries minister refuted the allegations against him and said some people have  land records and claim to own this land. The minister claimed he has nothing to do with the land grabbers. "All allegations against me are unfounded. My role is to support the fishermen, not to harass or occupy their water bodies," he said, adding that he and his party, Pakistan Peoples Party, has played a vital role in abolishing the contract system and providing genuine rights to bona fide fishermen.