DERA GHAZI KHAN: Commissioner Nasir Mahmood has issued directives to launch an anti-encroachment campaign to retrieve the land reserved for the pond area of Taunsa Barrage and the internationally recognized Ramsar Convention wetland.
The move aims to prevent the loss of precious flora and fauna of the Ramsar site and to enhance the capacity of storing extra floodwater in the pond areas during high floods.
According to sources, local political influencers have been cultivating crops in the prohibited pond areas of the barrage, which has resulted in fatalities to wildlife.
Just recently, a fawn was rescued with injuries caused by the blades of a harvester during the harvesting of illegally grown wheat crops in the wetland.
Pakistan has 19 Ramsar sites, including the Taunsa Barrage sanctuary-cum-Lashariwala Jungle spread over 3,320,170 acres.
The Taunsa Barrage, constructed in 1951 and completed in 1957, is built in a dry place, and the river is diverted to pass through it, irrigating a large area.
This barrage is considered the backbone of agriculture and can withstand the passage of one million cusecs of water.
The barrage has two pond area pockets and can store approximately 100,000 cusecs of additional water.
The naturally grown Lashariwala forest is located opposite the stream and covers an area of 5,000 acres. It is home to hundreds of wild animals and thousands of water birds, situated on the River Indus on three sides.
Despite the presence of officials from the Irrigation Department, Fisheries Department, Forest Department, and Wildlife Department, encroachment on two-thirds of the forest area remains an open secret.
The remaining acres of the pond area have been illegally occupied by local feudal authorities, who have planted crops on it. On two-thirds of the pond area of Taunsa Barrage and Lashariwala Forest, a mafia maintains occupation and carries out the relentless hunting of wildlife.
Commissioner Nasir Mahmood emphasized the need for a strict operation against this encroachment. Meanwhile, the non-governmental organization Sindhu Bachao Tarla has been staging protests from time to time against land encroachment in the pond areas.
The situation demands immediate action to retrieve the land reserved for the pond area and prevent further loss of wildlife and natural resources.
