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PHA refills Manto Park lake without repairs

* Lake was emptied to repair base, stop seepage damaging Minar-e-Pakistan
* Project director says seepage block precautionary measure, no damage to monument

By Afnan Khan

LAHORE: The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) has allowed the refilling of the artificial lake in Manto Park without repairing its base and boundary walls.

The PHA emptied the one-kilometre-long lake more than a month ago with a view to construct a concrete base and walls of the ancient lake as the constant water seepage from the lake was damaging the base of Minar-e-Pakistan. Contractors and employees associated with the park told Daily Times that the decision to repair the lake was taken as cracks in its base were contaminating water with sewerage from a nearby drain, besides posing a danger to the foundation of the national monument. Similarly, the seepage was also damaging houses situated on the backside of the lake. There are also complaints from residents about the contamination of drinking water in the area.

Contractor Abid Hussain, who maintains the lake, said that the authorities had decided to drain water from the lake to repair it for leakages, which could damage the monument. However, another contractor, Tariq, said that the water seepage had not caused any damage to the monument so far. It was decided to refill the lake after a meeting with Project Director Yaqoob Chaudhry and other officials to entertain visitors on Eid, he added. The contractor said that water pumps had been turned on to refill the lake, adding that the lake would be ready for boating one week before Eid.

A park employee said that the lake was being refilled because contractors and the PHA were keen to make money on Eid through boating and operating a swing installed in the middle of the lake. The employee said that fish from the drain enter the lake through cracks and kill farm fish kept in the lake. Minar-e-Pakistan Project Director Yaqoob Chaudhry said that the government had not released funds in time for the lake repair. He said contractors would lose a major portion of their profit if the lake was not opened on Eid.

Precautions: The director said that the stoppage of seepage was a precautionary measure, adding that it was not causing any damage to the monument. He said that the lake had been purged of parasite fish, adding that the repair work would start after the funds were released after Eid.

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