World Wetlands Day cerebrated at Keenjhar Lake, the largest fresh water source for the cities of Karachi and Thatta

IUCN Pakistan in collaboration with the Mangroves for the Future Programme, Pakistan, Sindh Coastal Community Project of the Sindh Coastal Development Authority, and Sindh Fisheries Department, celebrated the World Wetland Day at the Keenjhar Lake, Thatta, to highlight the importance of the Keenjhar freshwater ecosystem on February 02, 2013. Over 150 people attended the event, including water and natural resources management experts, students, media and the government officials.

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2013 as the United Nations International Year of Water Cooperation and Ramsar’s theme for the World Wetland’s Day for this year is “Wetlands and Water Management”. 

The idea behind selecting Keenjhar Lake as a venue was to highlight the importance of the wetlands in providing fresh water. Not only it is a Ramsar protected site but 95% of Karachi’s water needs are fulfilled through Keenjhar, making it the largest source of water supply for Karachi. According to Karachi Water & Sewerage Board, each day, about 580 MGD of water from Keenjhar is supplied to the city. Study reports on Keenjhar state that the lake hosts, around 55 freshwater fish species. 

In the opening remarks, Country Representative IUCN Pakistan, Mr. Mahmood Akhtar Cheema spoke about constant decrease in water availability in Pakistan. He said that in 1947, per capita water availability was 5000 cubic meter which has reduced to 1000 cubic meter. He was of the view that vegetative cover is essential for water conservation and ground water storage, which is alarmingly low in Pakistan, and stands at 5% of the total landmass whereas in India it is 23%. The neighbouring countries are heavily investing for increasing their vegetative cover as it helps in conserving the water. Water is interconnected with agriculture and fisheries and thousands of livelihoods are dependent on it. He stressed on the need for Pakistan to work with the neighboring countries to have a dialogue on water as it is a shared resource.

Mr. Ghulam Qadir Shah, Coordinator Mangroves for the Future Programme Pakistan, highlighted the natural wealth that Keenjhar Lake offered many years ago. At one point, the Bengal tiger and gharial resided in the wetlands of Pakistan but are now extinct. Marine turtles and Indus dolphins are also endangered. Also, there were over 120,000 trees at the Haleji Lake but then they were cut down since the water supply to the Indus gradually decreased with the construction of dams, resulting in the unfortunate loss. He said that Kotri and Nooriabad waste also comes to Keenjhar affecting its water quality. He spoke about how 15% of Sindh’s GDP is wasted due to the environmental degradation, which is the highest in the world. He said that the Mangroves for the Future Programme, with its secretariat-based at IUCN Pakistan, is trying to do its bit by giving small and medium-sized grants to the organisations working in the coastal areas and providing training to the communities.