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Detailed Ecological Assessment Report 2008 – Keenjhar Lake Due to decline in fisheries some people are also involved in the mining of stones from the nearby stony hills. Some communities are also earning income from the local tourists coming from Karachi, Hyderabad and Thatta for recreational purpose. They have the speedboats and they usually charge Rs. 1000 to Rs. 1500 per day based on the time and trip. These boats do not have any safety gears on them, therefore lots of accidents have been occurring in the past and many people lost their lives. Sindh Tourism Development Corporation has developed a Tourist Center there with air-conditioned lodges and visitor’s facility. The facility has been developed in a stretch of about 2 km towards eastern side of the lake and they charge an entrance fee from vehicles and/or visitors into this area. The Irrigation Department has a small set up and has a rest house. Towards south-western side of the lake the Karachi Water Sewerage Board has its own set up to regulate the outlet of the lake. Pakistan Army has also established a rest house on the eastern side of the lake. Fisheries Department is also active in the area; it has established a modest facility over Keenjhar Lake and owns a large set up in Chillya, which is about 10 km away from there. At Chillya, the Fisheries Department has training centre and a hostel along with fish hatchery. 1.1.1 State of natural resources Keenjhar Lake was declared Wildlife Sanctuary in 1977 under Sindh Wildlife Protection Ordinance, 1972. The sanctuary has a buffer zone of 5 km. It has also been designated as Ramsar site during 1976 (Anon 1999). • Flora: The Lake has a rich flora of submerged, floating and emergent aquatic plants such as Potamogeton spp., Najas minor, Nelumbo nucifera, Nymphaea spp., Cyperus spp., Phragmites spp., Typha spp., etc. These provide both food and shelter to fauna species. Many birds reside in the thick growth of Typha and Phragmites. The land around the lake has a rich diversity of semi aquatic to dry land plant species. • Fauna: Keenjhar Lake is rich in fish fauna. It includes Ambassis nana, Badis spp. Puntius sarana, Puntius ticto, Catla catla, Channa spp. Cirrhinus mrigala, Ctenopharyngodon idellus, Gadusia chapra, Glossogobius spp. Labeo rohita, Labeo gonius, Notopterus notopterus and, Rasbora rasbora, etc. The livelihood of the local communities mainly depends on these resources. Anon (1999) mentioned an annual production of about 700 metric tonnes of fish but there is a potential of producing around 10, 000 metric tonnes. There has been reduction in the fish stock due to overexploitation. Keenjhar Lake is an important breeding and wintering and staging area for a wide variety of terrestrial and migratory birds. About 65 species of waterfowl have been recorded. Amjad and Kidwai (2002) (gave following account of annual waterfowl census at Keenjhar Lake. Table 2 – Population of migratory birds over different years Year Total Number of birds recorded 1970s 50,000 – 150,000 1987 135,000 1988 205,000 1990 89,784 2000 30,220 2001 38,958 2002 30,610 Source: Amjad & Kidwai (2002) WWF Pakistan – Indus for All Programme Page 4 of 165
Detailed Ecological Assessment Report 2008 – Keenjhar Lake Breeding birds include Night-heron, Cotton teal, Pheasant tailed jacana, Purple Moorhen, besides some passerines. The Cotton teal has disappeared in the recent years and has not been seen on the lake for few years. Mammals include Jackals, Fox, Porcupine, Mongoose and small rodents. Pangolin has also been recorded. Among reptiles snakes like Cobra and Saw-scaled viper are common. Monitor lizards, Spiny tailed lizard are also found here. • Agriculture: Rice, sugarcane, maize and vegetables are grown in buffer and adjacent areas of the Lake. An account of cultivated plants (woody perennial and herbaceous) is provided in Table 3 below. Table 3 – Cultivated plant species recorded at Keenjhar Lake S.no Family Plant species Life form Habit 1 Boraginaceae Cordia myxa L. Phanerophyte Small tree 2 Caesalpiniaceae Cassia alata Linn. Phanerophyte Shrub 3 Caesalpiniaceae Parkinsonia aculeata L. Phanerophyte Tree 4 Fabaceae Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W.F. Wight Phanerophyte Subshrub Mimosaceae Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) ed Phanerophyte Tree 5 Wit. 6 Moraceae Ficus benghalensis Phanerophyte Tree 7 Moraceae Ficus religiosa Phanerophyte Tree 8 Pedaliaceae Sesamum indicum L. Phanerophyte Shrub 9 Verbenaceae Clerodendrum inerme Gaertn Phanerophyte Shrub 1.1.2 Socio-economic status of communities around Keenjhar Lake Keenjhar Lake is one of the major fresh water reservoirs located at Thatta district of Sindh province, covering an area of about 14,000 ha. The lake is rich in fish fauna and support the livelihood of about 50,000 people. Keenjhar is the major source to provide domestic and industrial water supplies to cosmopolitan city of Karachi. The communities are living in the settlement of the different sizes of villages and hamlets in the programme area. Thirty eight villages are located with two kilometers radius having population of 18,792 members with 2,610 households and average household size is 7.2. Housing infrastructure around the Lake is very poor, 73.3% of the houses are Kacha houses made up with thatch material and consisting of one to two rooms. The communities at Keenjhar Lake, in general, practicing same cultural norms and Sindhi is the predominate language of the area. Gandhra, Mirbahar, Manchri and Machhi casts are fishermen, Hillaya, Dars, Autha and Katiar are farmers, while Palari Jakhra are the herders. 1.1.3 Infrastructure and social services The lake is the main source of drinking water for the communities; about 78% people are getting their drinking water from the Lake; whereas 14% people are getting water from nearby canal. The area is deprived of sewerage facility, whereas only 27 houses have toilet facilities in their houses. About 44% villages have access to the electricity; no gas facility is available in the entire Lake area. WWF Pakistan – Indus for All Programme Page 5 of 165
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Untitled - WWF - Pakistan

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