DADU: Despite significant rise in Manchhar Lake’s level to 111.2 feet (RL), its water remains unfit for drinking or irrigating farmland as the lake continues to receive heavy inflows of polluted water from MNVD, drastically affecting livelihoods of local communities.
Many years of unchecked inflow of polluted water has turned the lake into a toxic body, making the condition of fishermen and their families dire even after billions of rupees have reportedly been spent on the lake’s rehabilitation projects by the Sindh government and international donors.
Nasir Panhwar, a well-known environmentalist, remarked: “Day by day, the pollution in the lake is increasing, destroying not only its natural beauty but also its flora and fauna.”
He pointed out to threats to public health from the polluted lake water and said “due to environmental degradation, nearly every second person living around the lake suffers from fatal diseases like tuberculosis, hepatitis, gastroenteritis, or other waterborne illnesses”.
He asserted that the only viable solution to protect and rehabilitate the lake was to divert the contaminated water of the Main Nara Valley Drain (MNVD), which discharged into the lake at present, directly into the sea. The construction of the Right Bank Outfall Drain-II, which was intended for this purpose, had been halted due to various administrative and technical reasons, he said.
Mr Panhwar said that level of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in the lake had now exceeded 3,000 parts per million (PPM), making the water unsafe for both human consumption and agricultural use.
Manchhar Bachayo Ittehad’s chairman Maula Bux Mallah said that under the current circumstances, there was little hope for a better future unless immediate steps were taken to divert the flow of MNVD’s contaminated water into the sea.
“The lake has completely lost its natural beauty and centuries-old civilisation due to the poor planning and negligence on part of both Sindh and federal governments,” he said.
He stressed urgent need to restore the 69 non-functional Reverse Osmosis plants in the area, which were originally installed to provide safe drinking water to local fishermen and other residents.
Farmer leader Haji Dodo Burdi, social activists Manzoor Hussain Jamali, Imam Ali Detho, Pir Bakhsh Burdi, Roshan Ali and fisher community representatives Mola Bakhsh Mallah, Ali Bakhsh Mallah and Ghulam Hussain Mallah warned that without urgent intervention, the lake could face severe ecological collapse, leading to drought-like conditions and further displacement of already vulnerable communities.
They appealed to Pakistan Peoples Party chairman and Sindh chief minister to protect the fishermen and farmers from destruction.
Adeel Soomro, executive engineer of Shahbaz Division Sehwan, confirmed that 400 cusecs of MNVD water was currently flowing into the lake, increasing both its water level and contamination.
Water sector expert Dr Imran Aziz Tunio said that sustainable solution to the lake’s contamination was treatment of inflowing wastewater, restoration of freshwater supplies, investment in eco-tourism and community-led development.
A spokesman for the Sindh Flood Emergency Rehabilitation Project reported that the World Bank mission had expressed satisfaction over a 70 per cent reduction in flood risk from the lake.
Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2025