Kirthar Park under threat due to illegal mining 

We left the M.9 motorway and took Kirthar National Road. Soon, I saw a rushing dumper, crossing at high speed without thinking of the safety of motorbikes. Each dumper is filled with sand, silica, red soil, and precious stones from of the mountains. It has been estimated that for more than forty or forty-five years, mining has been persistently happening in the protected area of Kirthar Park.

In an illegal way, due to this there are several effects on the natural environment and indigenous communities. For the investigation, I had explored National Park and got together with old men and young men, who were the residents of Sarri Kohistan. After riding a motorbike for one and a half hours, I finally reached a small village between the high sky mountains. When I reached Sarri high school people was protesting. Many participants joined in chorus, demanding action on education and drug prevention, with speakers urging authorities to stop drug supply, appoint new teachers at Sarri High School, reopen the closed school in Thana Bola Khan, and provide basic human necessities.

Speakers asserted that the crisis is largely the result of influence by feudal lords and Sardars who are believed to support outsider mafias. They called for urgent intervention by higher authorities to appoint new teachers in Sarri High School and to halt the flow of drugs to addicts in Kohistan. A large number of residents and supporters participated in the peaceful demonstration. Protestors carried banners and chanted slogans emphasizing education and public health: “Stop supplying drugs, appoint new teachers in school, open the closed school in Thana Bola Khan, and provide basic human necessities.” Authorities have not yet issued an official statement regarding the demands. The organizers indicated their intention to escalate the campaign through further peaceful actions if assurances on staffing and anti-drug measures are not forthcoming.

Afterwards, I randomly talked with people, but a village was burning with fear. A few people also joined the protest because the Sardars of Kohistan, who are the extreme authority in the region, are also involved in the devastation of the precious mountains, humanitarian crises, and mining of rivers. People urged me to not disclose our names; otherwise, the Chuggle of Sardars will threaten us. According to the local sources, “The sand and gravel mining was happening in the belly of the river ‘Pharis Nadi,’ or zero point.” Maybe, in the past, these areas fell in a seasonal river because most of the gravel, sand, silica, and red soil were found in the mid-river. On a daily basis more than two hundred dumpers carried sand, silica, red soil, and precious stones. In the vicinity of Dead River, where they eventually found precious things that belonged to the indigenous communities, but the formidable influence of Sarders took away all the shares. An influencer MPA had a fixed price of twenty-five hundred on each dumper, and one thousand the supporter of the Sardars took away. Each dumper has fixed thirty-five hundred in Kohistan, but in the market it has a huge price, even for the mafias who have taken the land on lease from governments, who had been importing sand and gravel to the other provinces as well.

After wandering like a Sufi dervish, eventually the sun was dying in the mountains. I have to reach a safe place where I should stay and meet people. Finally, I had reached the drawing room (Otaq) of my dearest friend Rehan Palari, who already has a number of guests. While sitting in the open sky between the sky-touching mountains, chipping sounds of the birds, and a ‘Kohistani Kachhari,’ also known as ‘Latifi Kachhari.’ It astonished me because most of them have not seen school in life but have command of the poetry of Shah Latif, named Mama Waqia, a peasant but a Hafiz of Latif. After ending the beautiful night. Early in the morning there were bustling clouds and heavy rain, but local peasants’ faces blossomed like the red roses because due to the rain, they harvested and stored drinking water, but my face paled because I had to go to the documents of mining sites and interview people. With a poet and schoolmaster, Amar Mushtiaq Palari, we eventually reached a near zero point, where an old man with a deep sorrow told me, “Because of the high speed of dumpers causing many road accidents, two brothers were killed in 2022, and currently a woman of the Khaskhili tribe was crushed by a dumper. Further, he added, “Mostly the dumpers’ drivers are Pathan.” Faisal Palari, a farmer and a resident of nearby Sarri town, in an infuriated way, discussed, “Due to the high-speed dumpers, dust spreads in our houses; we are facing several diseases of the lungs, and we already have a shortage of doctors and medicines.” Rehan Palari, a student of the University of Karachi and local resident of Kohistan, shared his views: “Because of the gravel mining, a large quantity of rainwater became waste in the pits, which deepened the excavator-crane truck and blocked the natural flow of the river and the way of the locals. That is why people migrated.” Further, he added, “The Charagah vanished by the Mafia.” The economy of the local area or their lifestyle was based on their livelihood, but without Charagah there was no grass for animals.

All in all, Kirthar Park is under threat due to illegal construction and feudal and capitalist interests affecting the natural beauty of the park. The Kirthar Park is located in the Kirthar mountain range in southwestern Sindh, approximately 80 miles north of Karachi. The Kirthar National Park is Pakistan’s third-largest park, stretching over 300 thousand kilometers. It was declared a national park in 1974 after being examined as a wildlife sanctuary in 1972. Kirthar ranked first in the United Nations Park list. A shocking disclosure came when I visited Kirthar National Park, revealing a terrible distraction story.

A strong feudal lord and Sardars with their illegal mining are displacing the local people and destroying the natural environment. Based on the research, mining of gravel, sand, silica, and red soil; cutting precious stones; and deforestation were the major causes of Kirthar, making it uninhabitable for wildlife and human beings. In the vicinity of Kirthar Park, people are perpetually displaced, and land mafias have seized their land forcibly. A number of threats and blackmails were made against local people to force them off their land. The problems remain in Sindh till the feudal system and capitalist mindset are gone, but human beings never lose hope. That is why I urged all progressive, enlightened Marxist, and nationalist parties to take a stand to save the Kirthar Park.