Shakoor Lake is a lake, comprising 300 km², located on the border between the Indian state of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and the

Sindh 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 ...

province on the southern edge of

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 ...

. About 90 km² of the lake comes under Pakistan, whilst the majority of the lake i.e. 210 km², lies within India. The Indian built Indo-Pak Border Road runs across the Shakoor Lake and it is joined by the Indian GJ SH 45

State Highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

just east of the lake, at the Kanjarkot Fort. During the

2010 Pakistan floods The floods in Pakistan began in late July 2010, resulting from heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and, Balochistan regions of Pakistan, which affected the Indus River basin. Approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's tot ...

, a controversial decision was made by Provincial Minister of Sindh,

Zulfiqar Mirza Zulfiqar Mirza (Urdu: ) is a Pakistani politician who is currently affiliated with the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA). He is from Badin District, Sindh, Pakistan. Early life and education He acquired his early education from Cadet College ...

, to release saline water and

effluent Effluent is wastewater from sewers or industrial outfalls that flows directly into surface waters either untreated or after being treated at a facility. The term has slightly different meanings in certain contexts, and may contain various pollut ...

into Shakoor Lake to alleviate pressure on the

Left Bank Outfall Drain Left Bank Outfall Drain is a drainage canal in Pakistan. Built between 1987 and 1997 using funding from the World Bank, the canal collects saline water, industrial effluents and Indus river basin floodwater from more than two million hectares of la ...

(LBOD) in

Badin Badin ( Sindhi and ur, ) is the main city and capital of Badin District in Sindh, Pakistan. It lies east of the Indus River. It is the 87th largest city in Pakistan. Badin is often called 'Sugar State' due to its production of sugar. Badin ...

, Pakistan.

Origin

This lake is formed by the emergence of

Allah Bund The 1819 Rann of Kutch earthquake occurred at about 18:45 to 18:50 local time on 16 June. It had an estimated magnitude ranging from 7.7 to 8.2 on the moment magnitude scale and a maximum perceived intensity of XI (''Extreme'') on the Mercalli in ...

on its southern side by blocking the Nara river (also known as Puran river or Kori river) when a massive earth quake struck the area in 1819. During the river flooding, Shakoor lake surpluses into the

Kori Creek The Kori Creek is a tidal creek in the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat. It lies just to the west of the Great Rann of Kutch area of India. This region belonging to India is a part of the Indus River Delta, which lies across Gujar ...

through the gaps formed in Allah Bund. Another low level lake called Sindri lake, located at , is also formed by

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope move ...

to the south of the uplifted Allah Bund during the earthquake. Geographically and environmentally, Lake Shakoor is part of the cross-border

Rann of Kutch The Rann of Kutch (alternately spelled as Kuchchh) is a large area of salt marshes that span the border between India and Pakistan. It is located in Gujarat (primarily the Kutch district), India, and in Sindh, Pakistan. It is divided into t ...

, a large seasonal salt marsh and a

Global 200 The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or w ...

Ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

Environmental concerns

The way water retention and salt extraction has been practised in the Rann of Kutch region, is causing, and has already caused, devastating effects on the local environment; reducing the natural wild life population, drying up and deforesting jungle habitats and

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

s, and threatening the entire regional

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

. In Lake Shakoor, salt extraction has been seen as the main culprit in this regard.

Border disputes

The Shakoor Lake area became involved in the century long "Kutch Dispute" in the 1960s, when Pakistani forces entered the area with a tank division and fortified the Kanjar Kot Fort. The Kutch Dispute then became part of the long-running and continuing border disputes between India and Pakistan, but it originated in the 1910s between the

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

and the

Princely State of Cutch Cutch, also spelled Kutch or Kachchh and also historically known as the Kingdom of Kutch, was a kingdom in the Kutch region from 1147 to 1819 and a princely state under British rule from 1819 to 1947. Its territories covered the present day K ...

, thus predating the creation of India and Pakistan. The borders in the Kutch Region was finally settled and effectuated on February 19, 1968, when both sides accepted the award of the Indo-Pakistan Western Boundary Case Tribunal designated by the UN secretary general.

Sir Creek Sir Creek ( ), originally Ban Ganga, is a 96-km (60-mi) tidal estuary in the uninhabited marshlands of the Indus River Delta on the border between India and Pakistan. The creek flows into the Arabian Sea and separates Gujarat state in India fro ...

in the southwest of

Great Rann of Kutch The Great Rann of Kutch (or Rann of Kutch seasonal salt marsh) is a salt marsh in the Thar Desert in the Kutch District of Gujarat, India. It is about 7500 km2 (2900 sq miles) in area and is reputed to be one of the largest salt de ...

is still disputed though.

References

{{Reflist

Sources and external links

Ecoregions of Pakistan
WWF
"The looming disaster"

Google Maps for the lake
Lakes of Gujarat Lakes of Sindh Kutch district

Origin

Environmental concerns

Border disputes

See also

References

Sources and external links