[asia-apec 1131] Water Pollution in Kinjhar Lake

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Water Pollution in Kinjhar Lake
By: Ayaz Latif Palijo

Sindh & Pakistan have several lakes including Manchar, Kinjhar, Halejee, Hamal, Shakoor and  others but Manchar and Kinjhar are well known through out the Asia and World due to their large water reserves, rich aquatic life, seasonal visits of European birds and historical cultural background. Especially Kinjhar lake has  the remarkable cultural status  in Sindhi literature because of the legendary romance of Noori and Jam Tamachi which has been the special focus of the poetry of Shah Latif and Shaikh Ayaz.. Kinjhar's source of water KB feeder starts its journey from Kotri Barrage which was built on Indus in 1955.  Kinjhar Lake is situated in district Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan adjacent to the National highway on the right bank of river Indus. It is About 122 km from Karachi and 86 km from Hyderabad with the length of 20 miles (32 km), width of  6.8 miles (11 km)  and capacity of 0.53 Million acre-ft.
As Pakistan is predominantly arid, with low rainfall and humidity and high solar radiation over much of the country, therefore most of its regions receive less than 200 mm annual rainfall. In these circumstances the only source of feeding for Kinjhar Lake is Indus river, which in addition to agriculture use, is also used for drinking, and cities, towns and small rural areas of Sindh use its inadequately-treated water, for everyday life and drinking purpose. Indus provides Kinjhar and Halejee the required water through Kalri Baghar Feeder along with contamination and pollution which is then provided to district Thatta and Karachi for daily consumption and drinking purpose. Water pollution in the Indus occurs through three sources: Municipal wastewater, Industrial wastewater, and agricultural drainage effluent. Most of the cities and towns of Punjab and Sindh discharge their municipal & industrial wastewater into the Indus river. Treatment plants are not available/maintained properly, as a result of which, the wastewater does not receive the desired degree of treatment. Lakes are especially vulnerable to water pollution, and one major problem, eutrophication, occurs when lake water becomes artificially enriched with nutrients, causing abnormal plant growth. Runoff of chemical fertilizer from cultivated fields may trigger this. Facing all these threats Kinjhar has become more endangered because of Kotri industrial area and tourism. On the one hand local industries of Kotri dispose off their wastes in Kalri Baghar Feeder, which is the feeding source of Kinjhar, and on the other hand more than 15000 people of Karachi visit this lake weekly. These tourists not only throw garbage into Kinjhar but also bring communicable human diseases to the local people and aquatic system by bathing/swimming in The lake.
The responsibility of preventing water pollution in the Indus river and Manchar, Kinjhar and Halejy lakes lies with the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is formally mandated to control the pollution in Sindh province. With the National Environment Quality Standards (NEQS) and, Pakistan Environmental Protection Ordinance, 1997, in place, the Sindh EPA should have controlled water pollution in Indus river. But due to the negligence and carelessness of EPA, Irrigation, wildlife and Health departments local people and aquatic life are facing grave threats of water-borne diseases like malaria, typhoid, cholera & dysentery, depletion of skin immune system, elimination of animal life due to eutrophication, ground water pollution which endangers adjacent villages and agricultural lands and under threat ecology of  migratory birds. (Indus delta falls in the Siberia-Kazakstan-Indus delta migratory route, Known as flyway-4)
Controlling water pollution in Kinjhar Lake and Indus is not an easy job it requires government's attention and efforts, community participation, adequate facilities, a high-level of technical expertise in the field of environmental engineering and above all mass awareness and accountability of the government departments by the community. In this regard water discharges into Kinjhar Lake through Indus river, need to be strictly controlled. Saline effluents should not be allowed. Municipal and industrial wastewater discharges should be allowed only, after they meet the prescribed site-specific water quality standards. Government agencies specially irrigation department should be pressurized for the proper maintenance of Kinjhar and standards of ISO 14000 should be implemented. The best way to eliminate hazardous wastes is not to generate them in the first place, if it is not possible then at least wastes may be made less hazardous by physical, chemical, or biological treatment. The Dissemination of community health information and awareness and incentives for local villagers for the use of chlorinated, settled and boiled water,  proper maintenance of Kinjhar's 23 km long dyke by irrigation dept, removal of aquatic algae for countering eutrophication and proper treatment of Lake water by filtration and  chlorination  to kill infective microorganisms are the essential steps and major initiatives  to be taken at the earliest.

For Further Information about Environment, Development, Gender and Human Rights in
Sindh, Pakistan and South Asia visit:
Sindh Research Page:  http://www.angelfire.com/az/Sindh/index.html
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