BAHAWALPUR: Flocks of Siberian birds at the Lal Sohanra National Park nowadays add to the beauty of the facility.

This makes the park more attractive for the visiting people, tourists from home and abroad and students coming from across the country.

The national park (about 40 kilometres from here) has an area of about 1.75 lakh acres with thick forests, sand and a canal and has enclosures for the nourishment of wildlife including Chinkara deer and black bucks.

One of the lakes is spread over 800 acres and it attracts migratory birds from Siberia, where due to continuous snowfall the temperatures go beyond sub-zero. The flocks of the migratory birds include water fowls, ducks, king stork, king fishers, Nealsir, Mallard, Gargany and common-teal rest.

The lake has fish and other aquatic life and the Lal Sohanra park administration this year had auctioned the fish contract for Rs1.2 million. Some people allege that the contractor illegally shoot down migratory birds with the connivance of the officials of the forest and wildlife departments.

Wildlife Department Assistant Director Mujahid Kaleem and DFO Lal Sohanra Park Qazi Khalid denied the allegations and said the contractor was authorised to collect fish from the lake for which he was granted contract through an open auction.

PROTEST: Scores of people on Thursday demonstrated on Yazman Road to protest their eviction from a slum.

The protest led to gridlock on the main road and people remained stuck in traffic for hours.

The city administration, assisted by the police and anti-encroachment squads of the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA), demolished illegal construction in a slum adjacent to Islami Colony.

The Baghdadul Jadid police said a case had been registered against those who attacked the official teams.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2014