Devil Soul
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Lake Manchar: Pakistan's floating village
DANIAL SHAH —
Manchar Lake, the floating village of Pakistan, lies 18 kilometres west of Sehwan Sharif on the Indus Highway. It is claimed to be one of the biggest freshwater lakes in Pakistan, and the only lake that is home to fishermen living on wooden boathouses for hundreds of years.
The lake spreads over an area of 233 square kilometres, and gets its water from the Kirthar hill ******** and river Indus. The fisher folk, known asMirbahar or Mohannas have been living here since centuries and survive on the available fish stock in the lake.
A thinly carpeted road towards the west on main Indus highway leads to Manchar Village. The village is small, mainly comprising of a main market that is crowded with fishermen in groups, sipping chai, watching TV and discussing local politics.
The market has one mosque, a few roadside restaurants, a grocery shop and a vegetable shop.
I was travelling with a friend, both of us filled with curiosity to explore the floating village. The sun had already gone down by the time we reached. Our first look at the lake presented the beautiful, serene picture of a golden sunset and the silhouette of boats and fishermen returning home.
Sunset over Lake Manchar.
One of the floating villages on the lake.
Fishermen return home at sunset.
Main bazaar of the Manchar village.
One of the fishermen, Allah Wasayo, and his uncle offered us a tour ride to the lake on their smaller boat. As we left the shore, we crossed through boat villages with a number of boats parked together, and families sitting outside, preparing their meal for the night.
The fishermen told me: “We own no land but boats, we live on boats that have been passed onto us from generation to generation”. There are different floating villages of different communities on the lake.
We asked Allah Wasayo if we could spend the night in the floating village in one of the boathouses, to which he offered us his own boat, a dinner with his family and a ride in the middle of the lake. We negotiated a price for the services and the experience they were about to give.
We were dropped at the shore to bring groceries for the dinner that his family would make for us, and later hopped on a bigger boat, which Allah Wasayo took in the middle of the lake, away from the shore.
Allah Wasayo.
Our hosts, Allah Wasayo and Chacha.
We leave the shore on a smaller boat.
The boathouse is simply a wooden boat with a big compartment in the middle, which acts as a living room, with a compartment for storage and sleeping on one side. One boat allows eight to 10 people to sleep on. Every fishermen family owns a boathouse and a smaller boat to commute.
“Our forefathers had a good time out on the lake. They had fresh, clean water and enough fish stock to make a good living. They were able to make boathouses for us. The lake now is contaminated with polluted water that has killed most of the fish stock, and I cannot afford to make another boat,” said Allah Wasayo.
As we continued our discussion, Allah Wasayo’s family prepared dinner for us at the other end of the boat. We were served Chicken Biryani in a round dish under the candlelight.
DANIAL SHAH —
Manchar Lake, the floating village of Pakistan, lies 18 kilometres west of Sehwan Sharif on the Indus Highway. It is claimed to be one of the biggest freshwater lakes in Pakistan, and the only lake that is home to fishermen living on wooden boathouses for hundreds of years.
The lake spreads over an area of 233 square kilometres, and gets its water from the Kirthar hill ******** and river Indus. The fisher folk, known asMirbahar or Mohannas have been living here since centuries and survive on the available fish stock in the lake.
A thinly carpeted road towards the west on main Indus highway leads to Manchar Village. The village is small, mainly comprising of a main market that is crowded with fishermen in groups, sipping chai, watching TV and discussing local politics.
The market has one mosque, a few roadside restaurants, a grocery shop and a vegetable shop.
I was travelling with a friend, both of us filled with curiosity to explore the floating village. The sun had already gone down by the time we reached. Our first look at the lake presented the beautiful, serene picture of a golden sunset and the silhouette of boats and fishermen returning home.
Sunset over Lake Manchar.
One of the floating villages on the lake.
Fishermen return home at sunset.
Main bazaar of the Manchar village.
One of the fishermen, Allah Wasayo, and his uncle offered us a tour ride to the lake on their smaller boat. As we left the shore, we crossed through boat villages with a number of boats parked together, and families sitting outside, preparing their meal for the night.
The fishermen told me: “We own no land but boats, we live on boats that have been passed onto us from generation to generation”. There are different floating villages of different communities on the lake.
We asked Allah Wasayo if we could spend the night in the floating village in one of the boathouses, to which he offered us his own boat, a dinner with his family and a ride in the middle of the lake. We negotiated a price for the services and the experience they were about to give.
We were dropped at the shore to bring groceries for the dinner that his family would make for us, and later hopped on a bigger boat, which Allah Wasayo took in the middle of the lake, away from the shore.
Allah Wasayo.
Our hosts, Allah Wasayo and Chacha.
We leave the shore on a smaller boat.
The boathouse is simply a wooden boat with a big compartment in the middle, which acts as a living room, with a compartment for storage and sleeping on one side. One boat allows eight to 10 people to sleep on. Every fishermen family owns a boathouse and a smaller boat to commute.
“Our forefathers had a good time out on the lake. They had fresh, clean water and enough fish stock to make a good living. They were able to make boathouses for us. The lake now is contaminated with polluted water that has killed most of the fish stock, and I cannot afford to make another boat,” said Allah Wasayo.
As we continued our discussion, Allah Wasayo’s family prepared dinner for us at the other end of the boat. We were served Chicken Biryani in a round dish under the candlelight.