THE Manghopir Lake is located about 14km from North Karachi. It is spread over an area of 1,400 acres.

It is home to various species of birds, including migratory birds which come all the way from Australia, Siberia and Turkey. Just before winter arrives in Siberia, many migratory birds fly over to some of the warmer regions of Pakistan where lakes exist.

Ornithologists have spotted birds like eagles, white-breasted kingfishers, Asian bearded owls, pink-breasted finch, black-backed gulls, hawks, trumpeter herons, itchy herons and wood-ducks among several others.

Various pairs can often be seen sitting together on branches of trees where they build nests and the female lays eggs. However, the environs of the Manghopir Lake are now being threatened by local land and timber mafias and hunters who come from gulf states.

A project called Naya Nazimabad Housing Scheme is fast reducing the area and endangering or rather altogether destroying the habitat of the wildlife.

The land mafia is fast filling the lake with soil and cement. Work is carried out day and night. They have also connected a sewerage line leading to the lake and have constructed a wall around it.

The wildlife of the region needs to be protected for posterity’s sake. Besides, wildlife conservation empowers the people and brings the much-needed money in the form of both local and foreign tourists.

I hope the EPA would stop all these illegal activities as soon as possible and take strong measures for the conservation of wildlife at the Manghopir Lake.

Syed Altaf Shah

Karachi