The recent ravaging torrents in Pakistan have given almost all natural lakes a new lease on life and local fishermen activists are hopeful the lakeside communities will soon recover and rise above the difficulties faced owing to longstanding scarcity of water and lack of livelihood.
The fishermen communities have lost their sources of income to the man-made phenomena of blocking the natural sources of feeding waters and encroachment of lake lands in different areas.
The recent rains have caused devastation in the urban and rural areas, inundating agriculture crops standing on hundreds of acres of land. On the other hand, the lakeside fishermen communities say the continuous rains have helped replenish these waters after years.
Irshad Gandro from the famous picnic resort Keenjhar Lake in Thatta district said, The Lake is now receiving more water through natural waterways and has touched its high level of 56 RL (reduce level). Gandro however fears if the rains continued for more days they might create problems for the people living in the nearby localities.
Around a dozen villages situated near the lake have become vulnerable due to heavy rains, he said, adding, a large number of families had lost their makeshift abodes in the recent flooding. Some people have shifted their families along the roadsides and higher grounds and were in need of help, especially food and shelter.
Gandro, who is an active member of Keenjhar Conservation Network (KCN), said Nai Loyak, a natural rain river coming down from mountains, was continuously flowing into the lake, filling up the water body further.
Keenjhar, spread over around 125 square-kilometers, is the main source of supplying water to Karachi city and other towns of Thatta district.
Keenjhar is one of the declared Ramsar Sites of the province of Sindh. Many important sites have been depleted because of the encroachment of fertile lake land for agriculture by some politically motivated people.
Another major lake Hamal, locally called Kachhri in Qambar town of Shahdadkot district, is also receiving more water. The community people seem optimistic as this will certainly help increase the population of fish to catch. But some activists point out that certain influential people, enjoying political backing have already taken over the water, depriving fishermen of their source of income. They are reclaiming the land for cultivation by deploying heavy machinery.
There are 1209 officially registered fresh water lakes in the province, being handled by the inland fisheries department. But neither government officials nor the community organisations have exact data about the status of these lakes. Because hundreds of lakes situated in Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, and other districts either have come under the sea due to a rise in the sea level and encroachment by powerful local landlords in connivance with district administration officials.
Gulab Shah, a community activist of Thatta district, said there used to be 300 freshwater lakes in the district, out of which only 40 were left. Some of them either dried up gradually after getting disconnected from their sources, while others reduced to ponds after their land was allotted to landlords for cultivation.
Shah said the official record of these natural waters had been manipulated. All the successive governments have allotted the lands of these waters to their political well-wishers, depriving fishermen of their source of income, Shah alleged.
He accused the successive governments of conspiring to destroy the natural resources in one or the other way, starving the fishermen communities and forcing them to migrate to other areas in search of livelihood.
Shah believes around 2.2 million acre catchment area of the River Indus has been given to people on political basis. Out of 2.2 million acre catchments area, there was thick forest on about 0.2 million acres which has been depleted and this approach has also destroyed the local forest economy.
He said once scenic Aghimani Kori Lake in Thatta district was still fighting for survival.
There are around 150 fishermen families living there, which may have heaved a sigh of relief, after the rehabilitation of the water body following the recent rains, Shah said.
Omar Mallah, a local fishermen, said, Nareri, one of the largest lakes in Badin district, was receiving a lot of rain water but it would not benefit the community because the sea had claimed a major part of it. Only a few fishermen families residing near there may gain from this development, Mallah said.
Mustafa Mirani, a community leader at Manchhar Lake, said, The water level at Manchhar has reached 17 feet against its original 12-ft level.
The lake, spread over 233 sq-km area, was declared a reservoir in 1973-74 by upgrading its embankments, aiming to supply surplus water to the nearby farmlands, Mirani said.
Since then the fishermen communities are facing uncertainty due to ups and downs in the water levels. For example, whenever the lake receives more water the runoff floods villages situated near there. The lake had received extra water after 10 years, creating a hopeful situation for the fishermen community, he said.
There are reports that vegetation in almost all major lakes have shrunk due to uncertain water phenomenon, which otherwise contributed to maintaining ecosystems, offering species to inhabit there.
The inefficient authorities, bureaucracy, and political elites together have contributed to the destruction of these natural resources. It seems as if nobody in the government realises the role of wetland plants, which work to improve water quality.
Chotiari reservoir, a cluster of 60 lakes, is also receiving rain water through its natural sources. The fishermen there are waiting to sail out in their small boats to catch fish.