DADU, June 6: District Nazim Malik Asad Sikandar has called for the immediate rehabilitation of Asia's biggest sweet-water lake - the Manchhar.

Talking to a group of newsmen here on Sunday , he demanded that federal and Sindh governments should take urgent measures to stop the dumping of agricultural run-offs from Punjab, Balochistan and upper Sindh into the lake.

He said that the fishermen and residents of surrounding villages of the lake were drinking contaminated water as yet. He demanded that the government should announce a grant for supplying sweet water to them from other resources.

Mr malik said that industrial run-offs of Lakhra and Jamshoro power plants and pharmaceutical companies should not be released into the Indus. He said that residents of Kotri, Jamshoro, Hyderabad and other parts were using this contaminated water of the river.

The nazim said that the Sindh government should also announce compensation for the fishermen who died due to contaminated water of Manchhar lake. He claimed that the lake's poisonous water was released into the Indus river on the directives of Sindh irrigation secretary, Bashir Ahmed Dahar.

He said that the chief engineer of the Sukkur barrage was not responsible for releasing the poisonous water of the lake into the Indus. Mr Malik said that the inquiry team constituted by the Sindh chief minister to investigate this sensitive issue should have recorded statements of all responsible officers.

DEATH ANNIVERSARY: The 10th death anniversary of poet Ishaque Rahi was observed in Mehar town on Sunday. A large number of people attended the ceremony.