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Haleji Lake ( ur, ہالیجی جھیل) is a
perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
freshwater lake in
Thatta District Thatta District ( sd, ٺٽو ضلعو, ur, ) is located in the southern area, locally called ''Laar'', of the Subdivisions of Pakistan#Provinces and territories, province of Sindh, Pakistan. Its capital is Thatta. It is home to a large necropo ...
of
Sindh Province Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. It is in size and is surrounded by marshes and
brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...
seepage
lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...
s.


History

Haleji Lake was a saline
lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...
until the 1930s and was converted into a reservoir to provide additional water to Karachi. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, additional water was required for troops stationed at
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
. The then-
British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...
of Sindh Province decided to increase the capacity of the lake by introducing a feeder canal from the
Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
. Salt water was drained out and an embankment was constructed around the lake which was fed with fresh water through a canal. The work was placed on a war footing and was completed within 24 months in 1943.


Fauna

Haleji Lake is a wintering site for waterfowl such as
cotton teal The cotton pygmy goose or cotton teal (''Nettapus coromandelianus'') is a small perching duck which breeds in Asia, Southeast Asia extending south and east to Queensland where they are sometimes called white-quilled pygmy goose. They are among t ...
,
Indian spot-billed duck The Indian spot-billed duck (''Anas poecilorhyncha'') is a large dabbling duck that is a non-migratory breeding duck throughout freshwater wetlands in the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the red spot at the base of the bill that is ...
,
purple moorhen The purple swamphen has been split into the following species: * Western swamphen, ''Porphyrio porphyrio'', southwest Europe and northwest Africa * African swamphen, ''Porphyrio madagascariensis'', sub-Saharan continental Africa and Madagascar * Gr ...
and
pheasant-tailed jacana The pheasant-tailed jacana (''Hydrophasianus chirurgus'') is a jacana in the monotypic genus ''Hydrophasianus''. Like all other jacanas, they have elongated toes and nails that enable them to walk on floating vegetation in shallow lakes, their p ...
. It is also a breeding site for
egrets Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same buil ...
and
herons The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...
.


See also

*
Hamal Lake Hamal Lake ( ur, ) is situated in Qambar Shahdadkot District in Sindh, Pakistan, 58 km from Larkana city and 40 km from Qambar town. The length of the lake is 25 km and the width is 10 km and has a surface area of 2965 acres (1 ...
*
Hadero Lake Hadero Lake ( ur, ہڈیری جھیل) is located in Thatta District, Sindh. It is an important brackish wetland, where waterfowl occur. It was declared wildlife sanctuary for the protection of migratory and resident birds. Hadero Lake is a natur ...


References

Lakes of Sindh Thatta District Ramsar sites in Pakistan Tourist attractions in Thatta {{Sindh-geo-stub