MANCHHAR LAKE (Dadu): A phenomenal rise in pollution levels in the waters of Manchhar Lake because of an unabated release of saline water from the Main Nara Valley Drain (MNVD) into the lake has cut fish catch by almost 90 per cent and eliminated many indigenous species, according to fishermen.
The fishermen have demanded an immediate end to release of saline water from the MNVD into the lake, which is located 20 kilometres from Sehwan town.
At a small fish market on the lake’s dyke near Bubak town where fishermen bring their catch for sale, Zahid Hussain Mallah, a middleman, said nowadays fishermen caught hardly 40 to 80 kg of big fish daily weighing from 1 kg to 2 kg each while some 10 years back they used to catch 2,800 kg to 3,200 kg of big fish weighing from 1 kg to 10 kg daily.
He said that catch of small fish weighing 300 to 400 gram each was 800 to 840 kilos daily which used to be 8,000 kilos to 8,400 kilos 10 years ago. Increasing levels of pollution in the lake water had severely affected the catch, he said.
Hussain Mallah, an old fisherman, said that middlemen were purchasing small fish for Rs1,400 per 40 kilos and big fish for Rs2,500 per 40 kilos at this fish market. Since the pollution had drastically reduced the catch most fishermen had migrated to other towns like Gwadar and seaside areas to earn their livelihood, he said.
Juman Mallah, another fisherman, said that boat culture was also on the verge of extinction as hundreds of boats were in a dilapidated condition but the poor fishermen were not able to buy new ones or repair the old.
Officials of fisheries department did not give any nets, boats and ice boxes to fishermen, he said.
Mustafa Mirani, vice chairman of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, said that polluted water of drains and runoff of factories of upper Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan fell into the lake through MNVD. It had destroyed the fragile economy of the lake fishermen, he said.
Reverse Osmosis plants
The supply capacity of reverse osmosis plants installed along Manchhar has been increased from 6,000 gallons to 7,000 gallons a day, according to secretary of irrigation Syed Zaheer Hyder Shah.
The official who visited the lake on Monday along with irrigation officials said that there were a total of 12 RO plants installed by Wapda at various places along the lake’s dyke and four plants set up by the irrigation department in fishermen villages near the lake.
Wapda handed over the plants to the irrigation department two years ago which increased their supply capacity and handed them over to villagers while irrigation officials helped the villagers in their upkeep, he said. He said that four plants installed by the irrigation department were powered by solar energy and the rest were powered by electricity.
At present, he said, water level in the lake stood at 11.4 feet RL and toxic level in its water was 2,380 total dissolve salts (TDS) while the TDS level in the RO plants water was 250.
Moula Bux Mallah of Bund Manchhar village 500 feet from the lake said the lake water had become highly contaminated and underground water had become saline, hence the RO plants had become a lifeline for the poor fishermen.
Khan Mohammad Mallah, a fisherman, said that all RO plants needed to be run through solar power because the electricity powered plants stood idle for 10 to 11 hours a day because of loadshedding.
Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2015
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