Thousands of vehicles including buses and vans of Karachi picnickers are washed in the Haleji Lake, thus accelerating the death process of this beautiful lagoon.
Hundreds of vehicles mainly large buses, trucks, vans and pickups visited Haleji Lake daily, while their number swelled on weekends. While these picnickers enjoyed themselves at the lake, the drivers of their vehicles who had nothing to do all day long would wash their vehicles on the banks of the lake, and in doing so they allowed huge quantities of filth, oil, grease and heavy metals to contaminate the lake water and thus accelerating its death process. Sadly, the environmental authorities, though informed about the dangers of such activities at the lake, took no action against the people involved in this brutal contamination of the Haleji Lake.
Haleji Lake, a Ramsar site in district Thatta, had already been facing a slow but sure death due to highly controversial project of Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD). This lake had an interesting history. Haleji originally was a small salt-water lake, formed by seasonal water, collecting in a depression. During World War II, additional water was required for thousands of American and British troops stationed at Karachi. Salt water was drained out and an embankment was constructed around the lake which was fed by fresh water through a canal. Resultantly, Haleji became one of the major sources of water supply to the increasing population of Karachi as well as becoming an exquisite refuge for waterfowl.