Land of lakes

As the seasonal spring flowers start blooming while the sun and clouds play hide and seek over the lofty mountains of Malaka Parbath in the Kaghan Valley hosting the oval-shaped famous Saiful Malook Lake with crystal greenish-blue water, one is awestruck by the sheer beauty of this spectacle.

Known for its fairy tales, the Saiful Malook Lake leaves mesmerizing effects on the visitor. The natural wonder is spread over 1.06 square miles having 113 feet depth and 3,224 metres height from the sea level.

Named after Persian Prince Saiful Malook, the lake’s waterfall emanating from nearby glaciers of Malaka Parbath on its northeast leaves enduring effects on the minds and souls of hundreds of thousands of tourists and nature lovers every year.

Mian Mohammad Bakhsh, a noted historian and poet in his book ‘Fairy tale of Saiful Malook’ has narrated about Prince Saiful Malook and fairy princes Badriul Jamala during his visit to the lake. He explained about the epic romance of Prince Malook when he fell in love with fairy princess Badriul Jamala during his visit to this famous lake of Pakistan.

“I have visited many lakes in Pakistan but the gripping natural beauty, oval shape and clean greenish blue water of the Saiful Malook Lake has impressed me a lot”, Riazul Haq, a retired school teacher of Nowshera district told APP.

“Saiful Malook Lake is my ideal tourist place due to its fairy tales, unique natural beauty and better road connectivity than other lakes of KP”, he said, and added that, “It was my third trip to Saiful Malook”.

He also said that “Families can easily come here to spend some time in its relaxed environment before exploring the nearby Anso and Dudipatsar lakes in the Upper Kaghan area through jeeps and on horseback.

Besides Saiful Malook, he said the natural beauty of tear-shaped Anso Lake with 4,126-metre height, Pyala Lake with 2,895 metres elevation, Siri Lake with 2,590 metres altitude, Dudipatsar Lake with 3,800 metres elevation and Dudibach Star Lake in Kaghan valley captivate adventure sports enthusiasts.

‘Identity of Pakistan’

“Saiful Malook is the identity of Pakistan. I am disappointed to see garbage and polythene bags thrown by visitors at premises of these picturesque lakes”, a visitor said, adding that it was the collective responsibility of Kaghan Development Authority (KDA), wildlife department and district administration to ensure and maintain their cleanliness and make them pollution-free.

In international practice, he said vehicles are parked outside the lakes’ premises in order to maintain their ecology and protect them from plastic pollution, and added that there is a need for the construction of parking areas outside the premises of Saiful Malook, Mahudhand and other national lakes to protect them from pollution.

Muhammad Ali Syed, general manager, KP Culture and Tourism Authority, told APP that Pakistan is home to many natural and manmade lakes and reservoirs including South Asia’s largest Manchar Lake spread over 260 square kilometres in Sindh, besides Paristan Lake in Skardu and Shimshal Lake in Hunza (Gilgit-Baltistan) with 4,272 metres height that draws domestic tourists in droves.

He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is blessed with around 100 small and big natural, manmade and reservoirs lakes including the world’s 33rd highest natural Lake of Karambar with 4,272 metres height and 3.9-kilometre length that could be accessed through Broghal valley in Chitral.

Syed said Swat has the potential to become a tourism hub. Its Mahodand Lake (2,900 metres height) at Ushu Valley, Kalam carries unique features including brown and rainbow trout and camping while Spin Khwar and Kundal lakes also offer serene views.

Khanpur Lake in Haripur is most suitable for water sports and paragliding, Tanda Dam Lake (Kohat) for ecotourism and Tarbela Lake Haripur for adventure sports. Muhammad Ali Syed said lakes of small dams including Tanda (Kohat), Jalozai (Nowshera), Kundal (Swabi), Chatri (Haripur) and Jangza (Abbottabad) have been selected for development of recreational spots to promote ecotourism. He said a road from Maidan to Bishigram Lake would be constructed while jeep track at Kandal Lake has been built.

He said Mahudhand Lake would be converted into a model ecotourism resort with provision for enhanced facilities to tourists there. According to Tourism and Culture Authority officials, a megaproject worth Rs99 million was being launched to construct walking tracks, wood boats, huts, parking area, camping pods and other services at the Mahudhand Lake.

The small and medium lakes in premises of Mahudhand would be interconnected after construction of small arch bridges that would enhance its natural look. It is a three-year project with allocation of Rs94m for fiscal year 2021-22 and practical work would soon start at the project.

Besides developing four Integrated Tourism Zones (ITZ) at Mankiyal (Swat), Thandyani (Abbottabad), Ganol (Mansehra) and Madaklasht (Lower Chitral) with $70 million financial assistance of the World Bank in the next three years, the KP government has decided to construct two roads to connect ITZs Mankiyal and Thandyani onward with Swat and Hazara Motorway that would open up these lakes for tourists.

The jeep tracks in 16 districts, mostly in Malakand and Hazara divisions, would be constructed with an allocation of Rs500m to make these lakes accessible for families throughout the year. Similarly, 10 new camping pods in tourism sites would be established where tourists coming to explore these lakes would be provided accommodation.

Salahuddin Khan, divisional wildlife officer, told APP that a Rs188m project for Saiful Malook national park has been approved under which a parking complex and gate would be constructed besides purchase of machinery and equipment for its cleanliness and maintenance and establishment of offices for wildlife staff there.

Under the Prime Minister’s Protected Areas initiative, he said KP was the first province providing national parks services to people and all development as well as administrative affairs of the national parks would be looked after by separate DFOs to protect their ecology, alpine ecosystem and wildlife habitats.