Once home to rare aquatic species, the lake plays house for dogs and donkeys

Aquatic plants have dried out, the fish are extinct in one of the the most historical lakes in Sindh, the Drigh Dhand.

KAMBAR SHAHDADKOT: Once upon a time, it used to attract dignitaries from across the world. They would come to hunt birds and fish as well as marvel at one of the most famous and historical lakes in Sindh, the Drigh Dhand.

Over the last 20 years, however, the splendour of the lake and its surrounding area has been marred by the stench that emanates from the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) and what was once one of the most visited spots has now been reduced to a barren wasteland, home to dogs and donkeys in the area.

All aquatic plants have dried out, the fish are extinct and the Siberian Birds have stopped visiting during the winters.

“I once got the opportunity to see Yasir Arafat, who came to fish in the lake with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1971,” said 70-year-old Abdul Khaliq Marfani, a former UC nazim of the area.

Marfani, who belongs to the Soomar Khan Chandio village, located at bank of the lake, said that the Drigh Dhand used to provide his villagers with their main source of livelihood as it used to be an ideal refuge for fish, waterfowl and birds such as the herons and the egrets.

The area was declared a wildlife sactuary in 1972, after which, it was labelled a Ramsar Site in 1976.

However, as water from the River Indus stopped flowing into the lake and waste from the RBOD started killing all the natural vegetation, the six-kilometre-long Drigh Dhand, which covered an area of 450 acres, started losing all of its former charms.

“The lake was full of elephant grass, so thick that no one could enter the area. But now you can hardly ever see the grass, in the lake or in the forest around it,” said 65-year-old Noor Ahmed Khoso, a retired postman who lives in the area.

“Bhutto Sahib would visit the lake often, sometimes with his international friends. Since there was plenty of elephant grass in the area, he had also announced the establishment of a chipboard factory near the lake,” Khoso said.

“During her first tenure, Benazir Bhutto had also visited the lake because she also used to come here with her father during their hunting trips. She had also announced renovation for the rest house. But no one came to follow-up on the plan,” said Zaib Rehman, a local journalist.

When asked what had happened to the development plans, District Coordination Officer Yasin Shar said that he had no idea about the proposals and suggested one talk to the elected representatives in the area.

“I am not familiar with the area, therefore you should either contact the district municipal officials or elected representatives,” he said.

Talking to The Express Tribune, PML-Q’s Sardar Ahmed Chandio, the chieftain of Chandio tribe and former tehsil nazim of the area, said that while the government had constructed a road leading to the rest house, a shortage of funds had rendered them incapable of renovating the building.

However, he was displeased with the questions about the development in the area, claiming that he was not the one who should be pestered for answers.

“Why do you ask me about the state of the rest house and the lake? Why don’t you question the people who have been elected more than three times and belong to the party that developed the lake to begin with?” he asked.

However, despite many attempts, PPP’s MNA Sardar Aamir Khan Magsi could not be located to talk on the subject.

Dignitaries who have visited the Drigh Dhand

Apart from Yasir Arafat, Raza Shah Pehlwi of Iran, Hafiz al-Asad of Syria, Muammar Qaddafi of Libya, Queen Elizabeth of England, Shaikh Zahid of Abu Dhabi, King Hussein of Jordan and former Pakistani leaders Ayub Khan and General Ziaul Haq have also visited the Drigh Dhand. Their photographs are available at the rest house, which was built near the lake in 1973.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2010.