Pages

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

JIWANI PORT (BALUCHISTAN-PAKISTAN)






Jiwani is a town and commercial port that is located along the Gulf of Oman in the Gwadar District of the Balochistan province in Pakistan. It is located near the Pakistani border with Iran.Jiwani lies to the extreme west on the Makran coast, close to the Pakistan - Iran border. Jiwani is rich in biodiversity.Being free from pollution, Jiwani is reminiscent of a South Sea island, with vast sandy beaches giving onto the clean, clear green waters of the Arabian Sea.

The area around the bay includes an important mangrove forest extending across the international border.It is an important habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, especially the endangered Olive Ridley and Green Turtles.

Green Turtles at  JIWANI  COAST

Olive Ridley Turtle





There are a number of export oriented fish freezing plants located in Jiwani. Jiwani is 34 km from the Iranian border.town hosts a small naval base and an airport with a 5,500-foot runway.



The special thing about Jiwani is that it was used during the World War II as an allied base and the remains of some bases are still available. Visiting the barracks area of the base used during the World War 2 in Jiwani reveals many handwritten small stories and names of allied Pilots.




There is another story linked to Jiwani and that is that Queen Victoria planned to visit the area to watch the "sunset" and a hut was built for her, which is now known as the "Victoria Hut".  The Victoria Hut is still maintained by the Pakistan Coast Guards up to the present day.

Victoria Hut

Sunset at Jiwani
There is a water system which is now abandoned for use but is a marvel of civil works and holds great uniqueness for meeting water requirements of the base. It used to store rain water in three stages in order to clean the water using its usual flow. The water was then pumped to the base and also up to the Victoria Hut which is nearly 5 km from the water tank system.





Recently, WWF-Pakistan established the Jiwani Conservation and Information Centre (JCIC). The aim is to contribute towards the conservation of biodiversity in the area, through information dissemination.Located at a site overlooking the Arabian Sea, the JCIC contains facilities for seminars, meetings etc. It has exhibits/displays related to the surrounding biodoversity.

Jiwani Conservation and Information Centre

Mangrove Nursery at Jiwani

Mangrove Forest at JIWANI
Jiwani Airport is situated 10 km away from the city centre of Jiwani in Balochistan. It is not a major airport of Pakistan. At this time, there is no scheduled service to or from the airport.