CHAKWAL: Though the fisheries department in Chakwal has been earning millions of rupees every year, the Punjab government seems least bothered to provide staff and needed facilities to the department.

Currently, there are seven sanctioned posts at the district office but four of them are lying vacant. A sole clerk is running the office and two watchers are looking after two dozen dams located across the district without having a single vehicle.

The department was running well till 2002 when the then military ruler Pervez Musharraf introduced his own version of the local government system and devolved powers.

The fisheries department, which used to be run directly by the provincial government, was bifurcated. One department was retai ned with the province and the other, which was born out of the original one, was named as the district department.

The departments of roads, fisheries and buildings used to be directly run by the provincial government but with the introduction of the local bodies system new district departments were carved out of these three departments.

Having same purpose and nature of work, the bifurcation of the departments left a very negative impact on their working besides putting an extra financial burden on the public exchequer.

Now there are two departments of fisheries - provincial and district. There used to be a separate building of the provincial fisheries department at Pinwal Road.

After the department was divided into two, the building was renamed as the district fisheries office while the provincial fisheries office hired its own building.

As the government did not pay heed to fulfil the needs of the newly-created district office, it remained deserted and now has been closed. On the other hand, the provincial office is being run in a rented building.

The post of the district officer fisheries has been assigned to the district officer forest who has no knowledge of fisheries.

The provincial office, which is headed by an assistant director, is also being run without its head.

More than two dozen dams, which have been auctioned at the rate of Rs9,073,000 for three years, fall under the jurisdiction of the district department which has only one clerk and two watchers.

On the other hand, only the Sowan River, which has been auctioned for only Rs50,000, falls under the provincial department which has 12 staff members, four clerks and eight employees for field work.

District Officer Forest Shaukat Ali told Dawn that he had written letters to the higher authorities describing the plight of the department but to no avail.

“I have been given the additional charge of fisheries. Though I’m trying my best but the fisheries subject is not my expertise,” Ali said.

As the department is running short of staff, the contractors who acquired dams for fish farming are polluting the reservoirs by violating the rules and regulations.

“The contractors who are supposed to use only rice polish as feed for fish use animal waste and muck as feed. Thus the water of the dams in which animal waste and muck is thrown as fish feed get polluted,” said another official.

“The government must merge the departments which are functioning at two levels (district and provincial),” said a senior official of the district administration.

“It looks quite absurd that one department having the same nature of work is being run at two offices. This not only disturbs the performance of the department but also puts a huge extra financial burden on the public exchequer,” the official added.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2014