Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Syeda
Mahe
Zehra
Transboundary
Water
Resources
Spring
2010
Introduction:
Manchar Lake is situated west of the Indus River in Sindh, Pakistan and is Pakistans biggest shallow freshwater lake and one of Asias biggest. It is situated at a distance of 18km from Sehwan in the province of Sindh. The lake is flanked by the Kirthar hills in the west, Laki hills in the south and the River Indus in the east. It is a shallow saucer shaped basin and the depth and area of the lake are variable depending on the influx of water. Mean depth of the Lake is 2.5-3.75m and it covers an area of 233km^2. It is also a natural water storage facility and a big asset in the arid region where it is situated. The lake is fed by the Aral and Danister canals from the River Indus, hill torrents and the MNVD (Main Nara Valley Drain). Main source of freshwater are the Aral Manchar, Aral Lakhi and Danister Canals which link the lake to the River Indus and have a combined capacity of 1.54 MAF. The Manchar Lake area receives a mean annual rainfall of 4.43 inches while evaporation is 96 inches. In 1958 the lake completely dried up due to extremely dry summer conditions. In 1995 a record flow of 300,000 cusecs was recorded.
The Manchar Lake is the main source of domestic water for the communities living around the lake. The groundwater in this area is not suitable for drinking as it is highly saline and the lake water is important to people downstream as well, because they use it for irrigation and fishery. As a result of the extensive evaporation due to high temperatures and low rain the increase in salts, heavy metals and other pollutants has led to deterioration of this eco-system. This deterioration is taking lives and 60 deaths were recorded for the year 2004. The once life giving Manchar Lake is now posing a severe risk to the livelihood, health and lives of the communities living in and around the Manchar Lake area.
Problems:
The
Manchar
Lake,
a
large
water
reservoir
is
(directly
and
indirectly)
responsible
for
the
livelihoods
for
half
a
million
people.
The
water
pollution
has
killed
the
unique
culture
and
exposed
the
population
living
in
that
area
to
poverty
and
health
issues.
The
women
are
specially
affected
as
they
are
now
in
a
situation
where
they
cannot
contribute
to
the
livelihood
of
their
families
as
they
used
to
while
living
on
the
lake.
Their
limited
skills
which
were
sufficient
for
their
way
of
life
in
the
Manchar
area
now
prove
insufficient
in
the
places
they
have
had
to
migrate
to.
As
a
result
of
this
parents
are
getting
their
daughters
married
early.
Malnutrition
can
also
be
observed
in
most
people,
especially
women.
This
leads
to
varied
diseases
like
Hepatitis
C,
skin
and
eye
infections,
TB,
night
blindness
and
infant
and
maternal
mortality.
In
addition
to
all
these
problems
each
family
has
to
now
spend
Rs60-80
($1
=
Rs.
80
approx.)
a
day
to
buy
water.
The
degradation
of
the
ecosystems
of
the
Manchar
Lake
has
been
occurring
for
a
long
time
but
the
effects
have
been
felt
recently.
Due
to
diversion
of
the
water
from
the
Indus
upstream
and
decreased
storm
runoff
from
the
Kirthar
Mountains
there
has
been
a
diminished
fresh
water
supply
and
even
that
has
been
rendered
useless
due
to
the
saline
drainage
water
from
surrounding
fields
finding
its
way
to
the
lake
through
the
Main
Nara
Valley
Drain.
The
main
source
of
fresh
water
for
the
Manchar
Lake
is
the
Indus
which
is
connected
to
the
lake
through
three
link
canals.
The
flows
in
the
Indus
have
been
diverted
upstream
and
so
not
enough
water
flows
into
the
Manchar
Lake.
Data
on
pre-Tarbela
flows
1962-74
showed
that
0.14
MAF
of
water
used
to
flow
into
the
lake
which
has
now
been
curtailed
to
0.08MAF.
The
Indus
is
connected
to
the
Manchar
through
some
old
inundation
canals,
like
the
Aral
Manchar,
Aral
Laki
and
Danister
Canal.
The
MNVD
runs
from
Hamal
Lake
to
Manchar
Lake,
it
was
constructed
in
1932
to
provide
drainage
for
rice
effluent
and
rain
water
and
also
Karachi
plain
flows
which
were
ponded
at
Hamal Lake. The effluent comes from the North Dadu drainage project (Wagan, K.N.Shah, Meha and Ghar) and this is the main contributor to the salinity. There is also talk of remodeling the MNVD to enhance its capacity to accommodate effluent from the Right Bank Outfall Drain Project as well which will lead to further pollution. Presently 8000 cusecs of drainage is disposed through the MNVD during the peak Kharif planting season with a salinity of 1900 PPM while the numbers for the Rabbi planting season are 500-1000 cusecs and 2500-5000 PPM. In addition to the problems arising from the dumping of the MNVD waters into the Manchar Lake is the issue of siltation and growth of uncontrolled natural vegetation in Manchar Lake have created massive problems as it limits the water holding capacity of the lake and reduces the water supply to adjoining areas. The fishermen are also adding to the pollution problem by practicing harmful fishing practices such as using DDT, dynamite and grain as bait and motorized boats to increase their catch, not realizing that they are infact part of the reason that the fish are dying out. Once the Manchar Lake used to sustain 2600 species of plants, animals and fish, the situation is very different now. More than 70% of the fisher folk have already migrated to other places in Pakistan and even Afghanistan and Iran and the Middle East. The catch of 3000 tons in 1950 had dwindled down to less than one hundred tons. The numbers of fish species in the Manchar Lake has also gone down and 14 out of 200 species recorded in 1930 are already extinct. All popular and commercially valuable species are gone. Not only have the fisher folk been deprived of their livelihood, the people buying fish from them suffer losses in their business, and there is less safe fish for consumption by sustenance fisher folks and community members. Additionally, the Siberian migratory birds have also lost a stop on their flight due to their not being enough fish in the waters of Manchar Lake. An ecological survey of Manchar Lake was carried out during 1998-1999, water samples were analyzed: water temperature, light penetration, pH, alkalinity, conductivity, salinity, total
dissolved solids, total hardness, phosphates, chlorides and dissolved oxygen were recorded. The water quality analysis indicated salinity (1.8-3.9 g/L), pH (7.4-8.7) and hardness (614-1000 mg/L). These parameters are towards the higher side and these factors are one of the reasons for the decline in fish production. Around 300,000 acres of land stands affected due to water logging and salinity. 1,200 tube wells in the area are no longer of any use. Traditional crops like rice, wheat and tobacco have become uncultivable or uneconomical .The lake bed was also used for agriculture. Traditionally some crops used to be cultivated on the lake floor as the water receded going from 113 feet in Sep to 106 feet in October exposing 26,000 acres of land. Another 50,000 acres were made cultivable through connecting channels. In addition the crop yields of downstream farms are also suffering as they rely on the water from the Manchar Lake to irrigate their lands. The pollution and reduced water in the Manchar lake is not only heralding the death of a great lake it is also causing deaths in surrounding areas." In mid-May 2004, Hyderabad in Pakistan's Sindh province was hit by a severe diarrhea epidemic. The pestilence, which lasted for two months, claimed 38 lives mostly children. An unpublished World Health Organization report cites contamination of Hyderabad's water's supply by untreated waters of the Manchar Lake, as one of the causes. The lake's waters reached the city via the Indus River, which was in spate. "As a result,' says the report, "its heavy salt content could not be adequately diluted.' A fact- finding report of the Pakistan's Human Rights Commission also blamed the lake's waters for the calamity" (Shahid Hussain, 2004: http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/node/43489) Add to this host of problems another variable, namely climate change and you see the situation get even more complicated. There is not much information available about the impact that climate change might have on the Manchar Lake in particular but we can draw some conclusions by studying the facts.
We know that the Himalayan glaciers are receding and this will eventually lead to reduced water flows in the river Indus and its tributaries. Flows will be reduced by as much as 50%! Currently the wetlands of Pakistan dont get enough freshwater from the Indus system because there are many other upstream uses that currently have priority like agriculture. What will happen when the water is halved? Will the debate of restoring the wetlands even have any significance in the glaring reality of reduced water for drinking and growing food for an ever- growing population? Another impact of Climate Change will be change in the monsoon patterns and though there will be more rain it will also be more concentrated increasing the risks of floods. We know that part of the water coming into the Manchar Lake is from the hill torrents of the Kirthar Mountain ranges. In the event of increased rain there could be an influx of water from that quarter. The increased temperature will also increase the rate of evaporation. The Manchar Lake is one of many wetlands in Pakistan. Infact 9.7% of the country is covered in wetlands. Pakistan needs to figure out what water management practices it will adopt today to ensure that it will have water for its wetlands tomorrow.
Required
Readings:
Life
on
the
Lake
by
F.H.
Mughal
2010
Pollution
Swamping
Pakistani
Lake
People
by
Zofeen
Ebrahim
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28991
References:
Mapping
and
Monitoring
Environmental
Degradation
in
Manchar
Lake
and
Environs,
Zamir
Ahmad
Siddiqui
and
Syed
SanaUllah
Shah
Studies
on
Water
Chemistry
and
Fish
Production
of
Manchar
Lake,
Dadu,
Sindh,
Pakistan,
M.A.
Mahar,
S.I.H
Jafri,
S.M.
Laghari
and
M.Y.
Khuhawar,
University
of
Sindh,
Jamshoro
Assesment
of
water
quality
of
polluted
lake
using
multivariate
statistical
techniques:
A
case
study,
T.G.
Kazi,
M.B.
Arain,
M.K.
Jamali,
N.
Jalbani,
H.I.
Afridi,
R.A.
Sarfaraz,
J.A.
Baig,
and
Abdul
Q.
Shah,
Centre
of
Excellence
in
Analytical
Chemistry,
University
of
Sindh
Degradation
of
Manchar
Lake:
A
Case
of
Human
Disaster,
Revised
Investigative
Report,
Impact
on
Women
Health
and
Livelihoods,
Shirkat
Gah
Publications,
Naseer
Memon,Zubaida
Birwani
and
Nizamudin
Nizamani
Experimenting
with
Lives
of
Poor:
Right
Bank
Outfall
Drainage
Project
(RBOD),
Action
Aid
Survey
Report,
Mustafa
Talpur,
August
2004
Total
Dissolved
and
Bioavailable
elements
in
water
and
sediment
samples
and
their
accumulation
in
Oreochromis
Mossambicus
of
polluted
Manchar
Lake,
T.G.
Kazi,
M.B.
Arain,
M.K.
Jamali,
N.
Jalbani,
H.I.
Afridi,
R.A.
and
Abdul
Q.
Shah,
Centre
of
Excellence
in
Analytical
Chemistry,
University
of
SindhImpact
of
Water
Scarcity
on
Wetlands
in
Sindh,
Rahat
Jabeen,
Freshwater
Ecologist,
Wetlands
Conservation
Officer,
WWF-Pakistan
Ecosystems and Biodiversity: Rahimaisa Abdula and Anupam Joshi Climate Change, Poverty and Environmental Crisis in the disaster prone areas of Pakistan OXFAM