MIANWALI The Punjab government has shown least interest in protecting wildlife and flora and fauna treasure of Mianwali district that is depleting fast by influential poachers and hunters.
The district is gifted with natural treasurers like mountains, fertile plains, forests, riversides and lakes. It has potential to become a tourist resort but no successive government has paid any attention to exploit the treasure trove.
Official wildlife sanctuaries in the district are Chashma Lake (81,750 acres), Kundian plantation (19,274 acres), Harnoli plantation (2,196 acres) and a game reservoir at Namal Lake (12,000 acres). The Chashma Lake is the second largest water reservoir on the Indus after upstream Tarbela.
These sanctuaries attract thousands of migratory birds every year from central Asian states which include Mallard Duck, Gadwald, Pintail, Wigeon, Pochard, Shevaler, Tufted duck, Shovalar, Gorgany, Teal, Goosander, Shelduck, Common Scoter, Eider and Red Breasted Mergansers. Plantation sanctuaries house white and black partridges, quills, wild bores, jackals, foxes, wolves and hares. Apart from these official sanctuaries, there is a well established private sanctuary named Kalabagh Livestock Farm at 5,000 acres, managed by the Nawab family of Kalabagh. The farm is home to 500 unique Urials, rare deer specie.
Dawn learnt that with the arrival of migratory birds, all the sanctuaries are dotted with camps of the poachers armed with lethal weapons to make the sanctuaries a killing field for guest birds. These hunters include politicians, notables, bureaucrats, servicemen and police officers.
Honorary District Game Warden Nawab Malik Fawad Khan told Dawn the Punjab Wildlife and Parks Department had taken no measure to protect the sanctuaries and nature reserves. District Wildlife Officer Shahid Nawaz told Dawn that his department was short of staff, transport and arms and ammunition for game inspectors and watchers. There are only three inspectors and 14 watchers for these sanctuaries and game reserves. He said the safety of wildlife officials was also a big issue as there was no reinforcement mechanism to save them from hunters. He claimed officials had to use their personal fuel for raids.
He said they had two speed boats at Chashma Lake but no operators and no fuel funds to operate them.
He said it was difficult for a game inspector and a watchman to arrest an armed gang of hunters. The department registered 175 cases in 2007, 189 in 2008 and 209 in 2009 against poachers.
A wildlife lover, Muhammad Ashfaq, said one or two immature hunters would become prey to wildlife department raids but influential were always ignored. He alleged the officials become guide for powerful hunter during the season. He said that recently a local officer of the Punjab Highway Police arranged a hunting trip for their boss from Sargodha at the Chashma Lake. He said he had sent the photos of the officer and his accomplices standing by the trophies - a number of killed birds.
Bakhshoo Sindhi, a boatman at the Chashma Lake, says only strong actions from the government could save the flora and fauna from callous killers. Juma Khan, of Kundian Plantation, has a novel idea to protect black and white partridges from hunters.
He proposed fenced jungle, a strictly no-man's land, where these birds could live in peace.
