THATTA: Jherruck police appeared reluctant to include the name of a retired RBOD project director, Muneer Bozdar, in the FIR registered against several persons who tried to encroach upon around 500 acres of land near Chul, located within the vicinity of Keenjhar Lake — a Ramsar site — on Monday amid resistance and protest by a large number of local residents.

The protesters rushed to the site upon hearing strange sound of heavy machinery in the early hours of Monday and offered resistance to prevent the encroachers from going ahead with their weed removal and construction activity.

Activists of the Keenjhar Conser­vation Network (KCN) and Sindh Mallah Forum (SMF) also joined

in the protest but the men accompanying Bozdar and his associates managed to scare them away from the site.

The activists then proceeded to the Jherruck police station and lodged an FIR against those found involved in the illegal activity at the site. However, police did not oblige the complainants to name Muneer Bozdar in the FIR as he wielded considerable influence in the area due to his previous position of the project director of Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD).

They registered the FIR against four persons, Akhtar Pathan and Tahir Babar (drivers of the two earthmovers employed in the activity) and two members of the Maachhi (fishermen) community, Ismail and Hanif. The earthmovers were impounded by the police.

Police not ready to include ex-RBOD project director’s name in FIR

The activists, led by Anees Hilayo, Dada Adam Gandhro, Mohammad Ayub Mallah and Irshad Gandhro, kept shuttling between the site and the police station whole the day to get the name of the project director included in the FIR but in vain.

They said Bozdar’s kamdars (managers) were at work to encroach upon the land on his behalf.

They said the protesters who offered resistance belonged to the local fishermen community who depended on the lake for their livelihood. Other villagers also had their livelihood linked with the weeds and grass as they used straws to produce different handicrafts.

Highlighting importance of Chul, they said it was a resting site of migratory birds from Siberia in winters and had been declared a Ramsar site. Any encroachment or construction on the site was liable to destroy this sanctuary and also deprive the local community of their livelihood, they argued.

They called on Thatta Deputy Commissioner Usman Tanveer, and the SSP and SHO concerned to apprise them of the whole episode insisting that Muneer Bozdar’s name must be included in the

FIR along with his associates and managers involved in the illegal activity.

Ironically, no official from the departments concerned including irrigation, water board, wildlife, fisheries and culture and tourism took notice of the attempt to encroach upon the Ramsar site land till Tuesday evening.

The activists pointed out that some other portions of the lake’s land had already been grabbed and must be retrieved from unscrupulous elements.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2020