MANSEHRA: Kaghan valley attracts large crowds of tourists every year due to its large grazing lands, fascinating streams, serene lakes and snow-capped mountains but seven of its lakes in Ghatidas area are largely unexplored for being accessible to trekkers only.

They mostly remain beneath heavy snow near the Babusar Top, a boundary between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan.

“Voyage to the legendary Seven Lakes is adventurousas you go there on foot. The Dharamsar Lake is the mother of those lakes,” said Sahibzada Jawad, who runs a voluntary club of amateur trekkers.

He told Dawn that he was striving to promote healthy activities among youth, including schoolchildren.

Mr Jawad said the Dharamsar Lake, which stood 12,100 feet above the sea level, was a soothing and pollution-free destination, which fell on the left side of the Babusar Top and had Chilas (Gilgit-Baltistan) in the east.

He said the youngsters, who make it to those seven lakes or Dharamsar Lake in the hot summer, mostly enter the mountainous region in the Kaghan valley via the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road.

The voluntary club’s operator said the Kaghan valley, which was home to the world famous Saiful Muluk, Dudipatsar and Lolusar lakes, was also known as the land of fairies.

He said the wildlife department had divided the entire valley into the Saiful Muluk and Lolusar national parks.

The Saiful Muluk national park covers widely stretched lower parts of the valley, including its commercial headquarters Naran while Lolusar national parkis starched over the upper and mountainous parts of valley including Babusar Top.

“The Dudipatsar, Lolusar and Dharamsar and rest of six lakes located in Seven-Lakes land falls in the Lolusar national park and most of them are still unexplored and visited as Saiful Muluk lake,” divisional wildlife officer Taimur Shah said.

He said Dharamsar and Subaal lakes were almost equal to Saiful Muluk lake in size but the rest of five were smaller and were known as Siri Mala (jewells).

The DWO said the land of seven lakes also had exotics and indigenous species of Golden Eagle, Ibex, Golden Marmot and Brown Bear.

“We have recently arrested a group of international hunters from Seven-Lake land and seized the endangered species that could be sold in million from their possession,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2022