Keenjhar Lake: tourism department fails to do the needful

Sindh Tourism department has failed to make Keenjhar Lake pollution-free despite incurring millions of rupees expenditures, Business Recorder learnt on Monday. Officials of the department have made tall claims on many occasions regarding making the lake pollution free, but they have yet not materialised the claims.
"Keenjhar Lake, which is Pakistan's second largest natural freshwater lake, a protected game sanctuary and the only source that fulfils the drinking water requirements of the city, needs protective measures on emergency basis," said one of the senior officers of the department who recently visited the lake.
On condition of anonymity, he told Business Recorder that though several public sector organisations, international donors and organisations, local community-based organisations (CBOs) and non-governmental organisations are running different projects at the site, no one has bothered to come forward to work for preservation of the lake and making it pollution free, he added.
He said that Sindh Irrigation department claimed it owns the lake as the department provides water to the lake. Sindh Wildlife Department (SWD) maintains that the lake is its most important site as it serves for different migratory birds and other wildlife.
He further said that Keenjhar lake was also very important for the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) as it was the only source that provides drinking water to 1.8 million people of the city. For Tourism department, the lake generates huge revenue as the department runs residential huts, picnic spots and other activities, he added. World Wildlife Fund (WWF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and several local CBOs and NGOs are running several projects near the lake, but none of these government departments or international and local organisations are doing anything for its protection, he added.
"The highly contaminated industrial effluent, which comprises highly toxic waste from hundreds of industrial units of Kotri and Nooriabad, is being poured into the lake without proper treatmen," he disclosed. "The industrial waste, the practice of washing vehicles in the lake and leftovers being littered by picnickers littering are also contributing to the rise in pollution of the lake," he added.