Manchar Lake, one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia, is being continuously polluted. The contamination has affected a community of around 20,000 fishermen. PHOTO: FILE
The contamination of Manchar Lake, one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia, will be completely controlled by the end of 2014, promised the provincial secretary for irrigation, Babur Effendi, on Monday.
“We will complete the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) project by the end of 2014 to divert the flow of toxic water to this drain,” he explained. “Meanwhile, we are making arrangements to reduce the flow of toxic waste water to the lake and increase fresh water supply,” the secretary told reporters during a visit to the lake in Bhan Saeedabad, Dadu.
The lake has seen a flurry of official activity after the Supreme Court took notice of the contamination, which has affected the lives of thousands of fishermen. Manchar, spread between 200 to 250 square kilometres, is inhabited by a community of around 15,000 to 20,000 fishermen.
The lake is being continuously polluted by one of its three water sources — the 3,000-cusec large Main Nara Valley Drain that brings polluted water to the lake. The other two sources are the Indus River and the seasonal rainwater that falls through the hill torrents.
The RBOD project, which started in 1994 to provide a drainage channel to the thousands of cusecs of waste water towards the sea, is divided into three parts. The RBOD I and II are in Sindh while RBOD-III is in Balochistan. According to the secretary, the RBOD-II phase will be completed by the end of 2014. The length of RBOD-II is 273 kilometres from Sehwan in Jamshoro to Gharo in Thatta. The provincial secretary said that some 25 per cent work on the project remains to be completed.
Meanwhile, the fishermen of Manchar staged a protest during the secretary’s visit. Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum’s Ghulam Mustafa Miani said the government has failed to contain the lake pollution and the water filtration plants installed in different locations of the lake are also dysfunctional as well.
Fishermen claim that nine out the 12 filtration plants are out of order. However, the secretary admitted that only three of them were not working.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2013.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ