Mir's Mini Forest

Just drive about 17 kilometres from Fateh Chowk Hyderabad towards Tando Muhammad Khan, and you can find a small green spot known as Mir’s Mini Forest along the road on the left side. A canal carrying fresh water drawn from Indus’s Kotri barrage is irrigating the land forest. An oasis between the agricultural lands of big landlords of Hyderabad, the Mir’s Mini Forest is a piece of green pastures, where an ecosystem is developed for growing trees and natural habitat for birds.

Spread over about 5 acres of land the Mini Forest is also a display centre for urban forestry.

With a variety of trees (about 400 different trees), the mini forest is a brainchild of a progressive landlord Mir Shah Mohammad Talpur. Although this forest is not designed on the pattern of the Urban Forest method of Miyawaki on which our other friend Shahzad Qureshi has already established an Urban Forest in Clifton Karachi, Mr. Talpur has also planned to utilise the Miyawaki method in the future expansion of his current forest.

Invented by Japanese Doctor Akira Miyawaki, who is a botanist and professor since 1980, urban forestry has an edge to grow trees rapidly in a natural environment. Using the Miyawaki methodology, one can create native urban forest ecosystems much more quicker. 15 to 30 different species of trees and shrubs are planted together, and the Miyawaki method suggests that each plant helps others to grow in a much faster speed. This plant community works very well together and is perfectly adapted to local weather conditions. It would take about 200 years to let a forest recover on its own, but with the Miyawaki method, a similar result is achieved in 20 years.

Mr. Talpur has learned the Miyawaki method from a trainer who came from India and he has also set up a small display at a piece of land of 3 by 3 meters by planting different types of trees by digging three feet and then replacing it with different grades of earth. “It requires a lot of investment and manpower for using the Miyawaki method and for the time being I have only two employees to look after this mini forest so this mini forest is grown on the traditional method,” he said.

He has imported many varieties from different countries and grown a number of local fruit trees as well.

Mr. Talpur allows families and groups from Karachi and Hyderabad and other parts of the country on a prior booking system to visit and explore the mini forest, where local fruit trees, honeycombs, birds and flowers are grown in a natural environment and environment lovers can spend their day time to be with nature.

A group of nature lovers from Karachi at the platform of The Linkers visited Mir’s Mini Forest on Sunday, November 22, 2020, and explore its natural beauty. Pl. click on the link below to look at some pictures taken by the writer.

Click on this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/LKK7cg8FH5QAsjcB7

Baba Island: Still Thirsty

Despite having a population of over 15,000, Baba Island near Keamari in Karachi is devoid of almost all basic facilities. Water is a nightmare for the people, who have been thirsty for years now, despite the fact a pipeline was laid by the former City District Government of Karachi led by Nazim Mustafa Kamal and a non-functional RO plant is there.

Named after Haji Ebrahim Shah Baba, the island is mostly inhabited by fishermen of Katchi-speaking Sindhis, whereas trading shops owners are from other communities as well like Urdu-speaking, Punjabis, Pushtoon, Balochs and even Bengalis.

Twin with another island Bhit, the Baba island comes under a constituency of PPP’s Karachi President Abdul Qadir Patel, MNA, who had promised to provide basic facilities at the time of each election campaign, but after the elections, he forgets the island and voters as usual. The island has a number of schemes (like a water tank, an RO plant etc) with an inauguration nameplate outside inscribed with the name of Abdul Qadir Patel.

Some private NGOs, however, have taken the task to provide education and health to a section of the population. For example, an NGO has adopted a government school to run it efficiently, and another NGO is running a medical dispensary with doctors and free medicines. But Baba island’s people buy water from private water suppliers who bring water in launch tankers from the Native Jetty hydrant.

A plastic drum with a capacity of 210 litres is sold at PKR 120 and if a porter drops it at one’s doorstep from the jetty it costs PKR 220 (PKR 100 labour cost). For a family of 10 persons, at least 2 such water drums are required. Most of the income of people goes to buying water. The majority of children suffer from malnutrition and adults have weaker physiques.

Dr. Yousuf, a local social worker and a former Union Council Nazim (2002) said a local company had installed a huge water purifier or Reverse Oasis (RO) plant, which ran for a while, but it is now laying idle as there is no staff to run and machinery has developed faults. Fresh investment is required to properly operate this RO project.

“The water pipeline installed during the Mustafa Kamal period had supplied water to the island for a brief period and right now there is no water supply through pipes,” said Dr. Yousuf.

An NGO of Navy’s retired officers is running a primary-cum-secondary school, which has constructed a beautiful building of over 20 classrooms and another Turkish NGO has recently provided quality furniture to the school. Dr. Yousuf supervises the school, which was being run by a Government employed head teacher. In fact, there are only three government primary teachers posted in this school, with over 800 children. The other teachers are employed by the ex-Naval staff NGO. 

The headmaster of the school claimed that his school is top in enrollment of children in the primary section in the entire Sindh province. “We have 10 classes only for Class-I,” he says with pride. It is in fact dedication of the headmaster who comes daily in the island from the central part of the city.

Similar is the situation in healthcare facilities. A dispensary with only one male medical doctor right now and a lady doctor who was on leave these days, is providing healthcare facilities to the entire island’s population. The NGO charges PKR 20 as an Out Patients Department fee to each visiting patient and provides medicines prescribed by the doctor free of cost. A maternity labour room and pathological laboratory is also part of this medical facility. Regular vaccination under Expanded Programme for Immunization (EPI) is also available in the dispensary.

Dr. Yousuf claims proudly that Baba island is now a Polio-free area as his NGO aggressively took part in each Polio-vaccination campaign. The girls of the island volunteered to administer the vaccination drops and no case of Polio is reported from the area this year.

When will Thatta Museum be opened?

An almost complete edifice and some replicas inside the “under construction” Thatta Museum are gathering dust as no one knows when it will be completed and opened to the general public.

One can still visit the brand new “City Museum Thatta” as an employee of the provincial Directorate of Archaeology, the only official, who is acting as a curator can welcome and show you the incomplete museum. He told me he also did not know about the fate of the museum.

“Due to the COVID-19 lockdown the work on finishing the inside remains unfinished,” the official said adding that the head office in Hyderabad can tell when it will be opened formally.

A brainchild of a veteran archaeologist Dr. Kaleem Lashari, the Thatta Museum is an attempt to depict the history and culture of the historic city since the invasion by Arabs of Sindh in 712 AD. It has placed some replicas of coins, clay potteries and dresses of ancient times.

A model of a carpenter’s shop with a model/sculpture and original utensils are placed at the entrance hall and a big boat depicting the love story Noori Jam Tamachi tale of Keenjhar lake is placed at the main hall. Some ancient manuscripts of the Holy Quran and religious books would be placed in viewers’ windows. Grave stones with inscriptions, Kaashi (glazed tiles) and carpet weaving loom can also be seen.

Pictures with profiles of Thatta rulers during the period of Mughals, Tarkhans, and Samas periods. Profiles of some major personalities like Doleh Darya Khan, and Makhdoom Muhammad Hashim Thattvi are on display.

According to the curator, the aim of setting up a separate museum in Thatta city was to educate people about the rich culture, traditions and history of this ancient city, which was once famous for religious educational institutions, trade and rich culture.

Necropolis of Malki, the largest graveyard of Pakistan is located juxtapose to the museum.

Another major museum in the district is also located in Bhambhor, which is an ancient city famous for famous folklore of Sasui Punhoo. The first mosque of Pakistan was said to be found here which was discovered from the remains of Bhambhor.