THATTA: Speakers at a gathering of environmentalists and members of relevant civil society organisations at Makli on Sunday warned the authorities concerned that Keenjhar Lake’s freshwater ecosystem, like other wetlands in Sindh, was under threat from an increasing industrial and domestic effluent discharge.

They observed that the effluents were flowing into the lake through the Kalri-Baghar Feeder (known as KB Feeder), and said the main source was the Kotri (urban) and its industrial area. They said that a large number of Kotri industries disposed of their effluents into KB Feeder. Coupled with domestic sewage, the effluents (mainly chemicals) ultimately reached Keenjhar Lake, they said.

“This highly contaminated water is a major source of drinking water being supplied to Karachi (900 cusecs per day),” they informed the audience at the seminar on ‘Save wetlands from degradation’ organised by several organisations.

Former PPP lawmaker Humaira Alwani said that the gradual release of river water downstream required special attention.

She said the considering the gravity of situation, a wetland management authority should be established to ensure maintenance and upkeep of major wetlands exclusively for the Keenjhar area.

She noted that almost a dozen governmental and non-governmental organisation were working to save the environment but without proper coordination. To achieve desirable results, the government should evolve a coordination mechanism not only to avoid waste of resources but also to mitigate complex environmental issues.

Hajan Solangi of the Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum (PFF), said that the Karachi Water and Sewage Board was earning substantial revenues but was not contributing to the maintenance and rehabilitation of the lake.

He called for the establishment of an endowment fund for the purpose, and said stakeholders including the KWSB and Kotri SITE Association, besides the provincial government, should contribute to the fund.

One of the environmentalists, Nasir Panhwer, said that seasonal streams (hill torrents) also carried untreated effluents from the Nooriabad Industrial Area and pesticides from the surrounding agricultural fields into the lake.

“Varied types of pollution have led to eutrophication of the lake which is obvious from the excessive growth of heavy algal blooms on the one hand, and excessive vegetation on the other.”

Keenjhar Fishermen Welfare Society president Adam Gandro said local communities had a role to play in ensuring availability of adequate stocks of fish, especially of commercially viable species, such as Rohu/Dambro, Dhai, Thaila and Morakha, upon which their livelihoods depended.

He stressed the need for addressing various anthropogenic threats including introduction of exotic species (such as Tilapia and hyacinth, etc) that had an adverse impact on the lake’s ecosystem. He said it was imperative to address these issue through a variety of interventions such as stocking fish seeds, ensuring a balanced supply of freshwater and bringing about an improvement in water quality affected by disposal of industrial effluents in the lake.

Ghulam Rasool Khatri of the WWF-Indus for All Programme, said Sindh is located in the low riparian zone. So, it was faced with various environmental hazards emerging from water contamination, he added.

He was of the view that a gradual decrease in the flow of river water particularly downstream Sukkur posed a serious threat to Keenjhar because of increasing levels of pollutants from various sources.