THATTA, Feb 26: Representatives of various governmental and non-governmental organizations and environmentalists at a function here on Thursday were of the view that dams and barrages are having pernicious effects on the country's wetlands as more and more fresh water is diverted for agriculture purpose.

The day-long event was jointly organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Sindh Wildlife Department and World Wild Fund, Pakistan, to mark the World Wetlands Day.

The theme of this year's celebration is: "From mountains to the sea - wetlands at work for us". The day is celebrated on Feb 2 to mark the date of signing of the wetlands convention in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar but Pakistan celebrates it on Feb 26 due to Eidul Azha, it was announced.

Sindh wildlife secretary Shamsul Haq Memon, IUCN's Tahir Qureshi, Rahat Jabeen (WWF), Najam Khurshid, Dr Naeem Khan, Naz Sehto and others stressed the need to explore resources and sort out strategies to save the Haleji Lake.

Originally a saline lagoon, Haleji wetland was created during the British rule in 1934 to supply drinking water to the newly established cantonment area in Karachi.

Terming the deteriorating graph of Haleji Lake as most alarming, Rahat Jabeen of WWF said the census of migratory birds at the lake recorded as 168,645 in 1992-94, had now reduced to merely 15,393. Some 58 kinds of migratory birds out of total 220 species in the world, she said, once visited the lake.

They said diversion of water for irrigation from the Jam branch was the key cause of the degradation of the lake. In the past few years, the water level in the lake has dropped from four to six feet while its average level is 20-22 feet.

Spreading over 6.5 square miles and having storage capacity of over 10 billion gallons, the lake has reduced significantly to excessive situation. They said certain kinds of weed, spread of hyacinth over the lake surface, uncontrolled fishing activities threatened the survival of wetland's eco-system.

They said reduction of water downstream Kotri, over exploitation of forests and fisheries resources, pollution, dams, barrages and irrigation schemes on the river Indus were major causes behind the deteriorating of the lake. The speakers said under construction Right Bank Outfall Drain would be a major cause of the Haleji lake's deterioration.