SEHWAN: Localities situated near Manchar Lake have been directed to evacuate to safer places as the water level at the lake has increased to a dangerous level, posing a threat to breaking the dyke.
According to Deputy Commissioner Jamshoro Capt (retd.) Farid-Uddin-Mustafa, the water level at the Manchhar lake is continuously on the rise. He said the lake’s embankment may cave in at any time. Accordingly, the union councils of Wahar, Bobak, Jaffarabad and Chana should be vacated, he said.
Manchar Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in Pakistan and is one of the largest lakes in Asia. It is located 18 km away from Sehwan Sharif in Jamshoro District and Dadu District, west of the Indus River.
The Deputy Commissioner further directed the people to avoid visiting Manchar Lake unnecessarily as its dyke, RD54 to RD58, is withstanding huge pressure.
The official said the dyke will not be breached and a last-ditch effort will be made [to keep the embankment intact]. “The next 24 to 48 hours are crucial for the Manchhar Lake,” he cautioned.
According to a local fisherman correspondent, the water has started overflowing from the lake’s banks at some points, triggering panic among the local population of Sehwan.
Citizens in Bobak and surrounding areas of the lake demand the city administration breach the embankment at Yousuf Bagh so that hundreds of villages can be saved from inundation.