A TEENAGED boy is taking a photograph of his friend with the azure water of Khabeki Lake in the background. They are on the recently built boardwalk along the salt-water reservoir in the Soon Sakesar valley in Khushab district. He identifies himself as Abdullah from the nearby town of Naushera, the tehsil headquarters. For him and his friends, this lake is the nearest recreational facility.

About a dozen steps away is another group of friends, including Waqar and Arif, who are on a bike tour of the area from Sargodha. They have visited Uchali Lake and after Khabeki, they plan to visit the Kanhatti Gardens situated about nine kilometres away.

Khabeki is situated about 60km to the south of Kallar Kahar as you leave the Islamabad-Lahore motorway. Surrounded by mountains, the lake sits between the villages of Khabeki and Dhadarr.

“The lake is at least two kilometres long and 1.5km wide with a depth of 8 to 10 feet. Its measurements increase in the rainy season and it can reach the length of 3.5 km,” says Abual Hassan, an official of the Tourism Development Corporation of Pakistan (TDCP). He is in charge of the TDCP installations at the lake, including a newly-constructed resort, which is going to become operational soon.

“We constructed a 0.75km-long boardwalk dotted with benches and installed a tuck shop here,” he explains. “We are also going to start up a kitchen, providing meals and snacks to tourists at the resort.”

The lake attracts migratory birds and one can see flocks of wild ducks, waterfowl and drakes in the lake. This provides visitors the opportunity to watch birds — all hunting is banned at the lake and in its surroundings, though fishing is allowed.

“We have a site for a bonfire and provide motorboats for people who want to fish,” Mr Hassan explains.

The TDCP resort has no rooms for the overnight stay of tourists — though there is a play area for kids — but visitors can camp or take up lodgings at a small, private hotel right across the road. Taking a room at Kallar Kahar resort for a night’s stay is also not a bad idea as the lake is just an hour’s drive away.

Ahmer Malik, managing director of the TDCP, says that the Khabeki project was launched three years ago. “We created road access after acquiring land from the locals,” he says. “We took an old rest house from the fisheries department and provided public toilet facilities. We have equipped the rest house with furniture and its kitchen will start functioning soon too.”

Mr Malik says that Khabeki is one the three main salt-water lakes in the area, the other two being Uchali and Kallar Kahar. These attract 28 kinds of migratory birds from Europe. “The lake’s colour changes from blue to green and purple, depending on the direction of the sunlight.”

Those visiting Khabeki Lake can visit Kanhatti Gardens too. The 9km distance is traversed through a scenic area, with tall mountains on both sides. The gardens, founded by a British administration officer, Major W. Whet Burn, in 1933 are spread over an area of 70 acres, and feature more than two dozen varieties of fruit trees — many were planted in 2011. Officials claim that it has the largest population of 36 kinds of birds in the area. Kanhatti is a red stone that is found at the waterfall and pond situated just 1.8km from the gardens, a site that attracts tourists that enjoy trekking. There are two waterfalls in the area.

The Kanhatti Gardens, which come under the control of the Khushab District Council, are remarkable indeed, with almond, apricot, pineapple, olive, orange, fig and loquat trees. Once you enter the premises, nothing can be heard but the wind in the trees and the chirping of the birds. For the ease of visitors, there is an attached parking area, and a tuck shop.

“We have also got a rest house from the agriculture department but it’s not operational yet,” adds the TDCP MD. “It might be operational from March.”

From the rest house and parking area, a small trek leads to the centre of the gardens where there is a hilltop that gives a view of the whole valley. One can see the villages of the adjoining areas of Chakwal in the distance. The TDCP is developing a camping site right at the hilltop, which is surrounded by the gardens on all sides. So far, it has placed wooden benches here, with sites for bonfires and camping. The best thing about the place is its untouched natural beauty, where even the cell phone signals don’t intrude and little human intervention can be discerned.

Unfortunately, though, the TDCP project at Kanhatti is being executed at a snail’s pace. This needs to change, while the provision of electricity should be ensured.

With the help of the agriculture department, the TDCP workers produce organic fig jam and olive pickle which are available here at nominal prices. These products, produced from the fruit trees growing here in the gardens, are a perfect memento to take home.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2018