Biafo Glacier

The Biafo Glacier is a 67 km (42 miles) long glacier in the Karakoram Mountains of Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan. The Biafo Glacier is the world’s third longest glacier outside the polar regions, second only to the 70 km (43 mi) Siachen Glacier, India, and Tajikistan’s 77 km (48 mi) long Fedchenko Glacier.

Tarbela Dam

Tarbela Dam is the largest earth-filled dam in the world is the on the Indus river in Pakistan. The dam was built in 1968 and 1976 and is 143 metres (470 ft) high above the riverbed

Located in the Swabi and Haripur Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , it forms the Tarbela Reservoir, with a surface area of approximately 250 square kilometres (97 sq mi). The dam was designed to store water from the Indus River for irrigation, flood control, and electricity generation.

Changa Manga

Changa Manga is a known as “one of the oldest hand-planted forests in the world”, and was originally planted in 1866 by British foresters. Its trees were harvested to gather fuel and resources for the engines employed in the North-Western railway networks.

Changa Manga, located in the Kasur and Lahore districts of Punjab and having an area of 12,423 acres, hosts a wide variety of flora and fauna — approximately 14 species of mammals, 50 species of birds, six species of reptiles, two species of amphibians and 27 species of insects. It was once the largest man-made forest in the world but has undergone illegal deforestation at a massive scale in recent times. Interestingly, the forest was named after two brother dacoits.

Published in Dawn, Young World, August 11th, 2018