HYDERABAD, Nov 5: Prof Mukhtiar Ahmed Mahar of the Department of Fresh Water Biology and Fisheries, University of Sindh, has called for diverting saline water of the Main Nara Valley Drain into Right Bank Outfall Drain to save the fresh water of Manchhar Lake.
He was presenting his thesis on “Ecology and Taxonomy of the Plankton of Manchhar Lake” before a gathering here on Tuesday.
He said that Manchhar Lake is as old as the Cenozoic era and covers an area between 60 and 200 sq kms.
He said that this area varies from time to time due to floods.
He said that the lake is fed from the River Indus through the Aral Regulator and Danistar Canal, which serve both as inlets as well as outlets.
Prof Mahar said during the months of June and July when the water level in the River Indus rises, the lake fills to a level of about 8 feet through the Aral and Danistar. He said a large quantity of water enters the lake from the Khirthar Mountains.
He said that the third feeding source of the lake is the Main Nara Valley Drain, which is an abandoned distributary of the River Indus.
He said water is also added from the water flows of the Dadu and Rice Canals and spillage of the Hamal Lake, which is a freshwater lake in Larkana district.
He said that ever since the commissioning of the Right Bank Outfall Drain project in 1970, drains are pouring effluents, agricultural run-offs and domestic sewage into the Main Nara Valley Drain and Hamal Lake, which is discharged into the Manchhar Lake.
Prof Mahar said in the beginning of his study in 1998 there were some higher aquatic plants in the lake but by 2003 they had been totally destroyed.
He said that stocks of fresh water fish such as Rahu, Thaili and Morakhi have considerably reduced, whereas those of catfish, eel and Tilapia have increased.
RESULTS: The director, admissions, University of Sindh, has announced on Tuesday that the results of entry tests for admissions in bachelors classes had been put up on the notice board of the Elsa Qazi Campus, Hyderabad, and the directorate of admissions, Administration Building, Jamshoro.
The director has also released the first merit list of the candidates who have been selected for admissions in various disciplines of master programme for the academic session 2004.
The selected candidates have been advised to deposit their admission fee between Nov 5 and Nov 17, failing which no fee will be accepted after the due date.