lakes of India

Lake -- 

A lake is a body of water that is surrounded by land. There are millions of lakes in the world. They are found on every continent and in every kind of environment—in mountains and deserts, on plains,

Types of Lakes

1.Tectonic Lakes:

These lakes are formed due to the folding and faulting of plates in earth’s Crust. Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, Tso Moriri and Pangong Tso (Ladakh) are some examples of such lakes. 

2.Crater Lakes:

These lakes are formed when caldera and craters are filled with water. Lonar lake in Maharashtra is one such example.

3.Glacial Lake:

These lakes are formed to the erosion/melting of glaciers. Most of the glacial lakes are found in the Himalayan region in India 

4.Ox-Bow Lakes:

Formed due to the depositional and erosional activities of the River.

5.Lagoons:

Formed due to deposition of sand bars along with the sea coast. Chilika Lake, Pulicat Lake are some of the examples.

6.Artificial Lakes:

Formed by Humans for recreational, hydrological, ecological, economical purposes. 

Wular Lake 

✅ is one of the largest fresh water lakes in Asia. It is sited in Bandipora district in Jammu and Kashmir, India. 

✅The lake basin was formed as a result of tectonic activity and is fed by the Jhelum River. The lake's size varies seasonally from 30 to 189 square kilometres

✅The Tulbul Project is a "navigation lock-cum-control structure" at the mouth of Wular Lake

✅ In 1990, it was designated as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention

Tso Moriri or Lake Moriri or 

"Mountain Lake", 

✅is a lake in the Changthang Plateau in Ladakh in Northern India. The lake and surrounding area are protected as the Tso Moriri Wetland Conservation Reserve

✅It is the largest of the high altitude lakes entirely within India and entirely within Ladakh in this Trans-Himalayan biogeographic region. 

✅The lake has no outlet at present and the water is brackish though not very perceptible to taste.

✅lake has become an endorheic lake. The lake is oligotrophic in nature, and its waters are alkaline

Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake 

✅is an endorheic lake spanning eastern Ladakh and West Tibet

✅Approximately 50% of the length of the overall lake lies within Tibet China, 40% in Ladakh India and the rest is disputed and is a de-facto buffer zone between India and China

✅During winter the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water. It has a land-locked basin separated from the Indus River basin by a small elevated ridge, but is believed to have been part of the latter in prehistoric times.

 Pong Dam Lake

✅Maharana Pratap Sagar in India, also known as Pong Reservoir or Pong Dam Lake was created in 1975, by building the highest earthfill dam in India on the Beas River in the wetland zone of the Siwalik Hills in HIMACHAL PRADESH

✅the lake is a well-known wildlife sanctuary and one of the 27 international wetland sites declared in India by the Ramsar Convention

✅The reservoir was declared as a bird sanctuary in 1983. 

Bhimtal Lake

✅Bhimtal is a lake in the town of Bhimtal, in Kumaon, with a masonry dam built in 1883 creating the storage facility.

✅ It is the largest lake in Nainital district which is also known as the "Lake district of India".

✅ It is also the largest lake of Kumaon. The lake provides drinking water supply and supports aquaculture with variety of fish species.

✅ There is an island at the centre of the lake which has been developed as a tourist attraction and has an aquarium.

Deepor Beel

✅It is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Assam and the State’s only Ramsar site besides being an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International.

✅It is located towards the southwest of Guwahati city, Assam and is the erstwhile water channel of River Brahmaputra.

✅The lake expands up to 30 sq. km in summer and reduces to about 10 sq. km in the winter. The wildlife sanctuary measures 4.1 sq. km within this wetland (beel).

✅It has both biological and environmental importance besides being the only major storm-water storage basin for Guwahati city.

Bhojtal lake

✅Bhojtal, formerly known as Upper Lake, is a large lake which lies on the western side of the capital city of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal, India.

✅Bada talaab, along with the nearby Chhota Talaab, meaning small lake in Hindi, constitute Bhoj Wetland, which is now a Ramsar site.

✅According to the local folklore, Bhojtal is said to have been built by the Paramara Raja Bhoj during his tenure as a king of Malwa (1005–1055). 

✅Bhojtal is situated on the west central part of Bhopal city and is surrounded by Van Vihar National Park on the south, human settlements on the east and north, and agriculture fields on the west

✅The Kolans was formerly a tributary of the Halali River, but with the creation of the lake using an earthen dam and a diversion channel, the upper reach of the Kolans River and Bada Talaab now drain into the Kaliasote River.

✅The two lakes support flora and fauna. White stork, blacknecked stork, barheaded goose, spoonbill etc., that have been rare sightings in the past, have started appearing. A recent phenomenon is the gathering of 100-120 sarus cranes in the lake.

✅ The largest bird of India, sarus crane (Grus antigone) is known for its size, majestic flight and lifetime pairing

Lonar Lake

✅Lonar Lake, also known as Lonar crater, is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument,saline, soda lake, located at Lonar in Buldhana district, Maharashtra, India

✅Lonar Lake was created by a meteorite collision impact during the Pleistocene Epoch.

✅It is one of the four known, hyper-velocity, impact craters in basaltic rock anywhere on Earth. 

✅Lonar Crater sits inside the Deccan Plateau – a massive plain of volcanic basalt rock created by eruptions some 65 million years ago.

✅A 2019 study, conducted by IIT Bombay found that the minerals in the lake soil are very similar to the minerals found in moon rocks brought back during the Apollo Program.

✅ The lake was declared a protected Ramsar site in November 2020.

Ashtamudi Lake

✅Ashtamudi Lake (Ashtamudi Kayal), in the Kollam District of the Indian state of Kerala, is the most visited backwater and lake in the state.

✅It possesses a unique wetland ecosystem and a large palm-shaped (also described as octopus-shaped) water body, second only in size to the Vembanad estuary ecosystem of the state.

✅The lake is also called the gateway to the backwaters of Kerala and is well known for its houseboat and backwater resorts

✅Ashtamudi Wetland was included in the list of wetlands of international importance, as defined by the Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands

✅Kallada River is a major river discharging into the Ashtamudi Lake.

Vembanad Lake 

✅Vembanad, also known as Punnamada is the longest lake in India, as well as the largest lake in the state of Kerala.

✅is the second largest Ramsar site in India only after the Sunderbans in West Bengal. 

✅Kochi Port is built around the Willingdon Island and the Vallarpadam island.

✅Kuttanad, also known as The Rice Bowl of Kerala, has the lowest altitude in India, and is also one of the few places in world where cultivation takes place below sea level.Kuttanad lies on the southern portion of Vembanad.

✅The Nehru Trophy Boat Race is conducted in a portion of the lake. 

✅The lake is fed by 10 rivers flowing into it including the six major rivers of central Kerala namely the Achenkovil, Manimala, Meenachil river, Muvattupuzha river, Pamba and Periyar.

Kabartal Wetland

✅ It is also known as Kanwar Jheel.It covers 2,620 hectares of the Indo-Gangetic plains in the Begusarai district of Bihar.

✅Significant biodiversity is present in the wetland.It is also an important stopover along the Central Asian Flyway for migratory waterbirds.

✅home to species such as white rumped vulture(Critically Endangered), red-headed vulture (Critically Endangered) and two waterbirds, the sociable lapwing (Vanellus gregarius) and Baer’s pochard (Aythya baeri).

Harike Lake 

✅Harike Wetland also known as "Hari-ke-Pattan", with the Harike Lake in the deeper part of it, is the largest wetland in northern India in the border of Tarn Taran Sahib district and Ferozepur district of the Punjab 

✅The wetland and the lake were formed by constructing the headworks across the Sutlej river in 1953. 

✅The headworks is located downstream of the confluence of the Beas and Sutlej rivers just south of Harike village. 

🌲This man-made, riverine, lacustrine wetland

🌲The wetland was declared a bird sanctuary in 1982 and named as Harike Pattan Bird Sanctuary 

Sasthamkotta Lake

✅the largest fresh water lake in Kerala, a state of India on the south of the West Coast.

✅ The lake is named after the ancient Sastha temple (a pilgrimage centre) located on its bank.

✅ It meets the drinking water needs of half million people of the Quilon district and also provides fishing resources. 

✅The purity of the lake water for drinking use is attributed to the presence of large population of larva called cavaborus that consumes bacteria in the lake water.

✅The lake is a designated wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention since November 2002. 

Dhebar Lake

✅Dhebar Lake (also known as Jaisamand Lake) is India's first and world's second oldest historical and second largest artificial sweet water lake in India. 

✅located in the Udaipur District of Rajasthan State in western India

✅Dhebar Lake, built by Maharana Jai Singh in 1685

✅There are three islands on Dhebar Lake, and the tribe of Bhil Minas (see People of Rajasthan) inhabits all. The two bigger islands are known as Baba ka Magra and the smaller island is called Piari. 

Anasagar Lake

✅Ana Sagar Lake is an artificial lake situated in the city of Ajmer in Rajasthan state in India.

✅ It was built by Arnoraja (alias Ana), the grandfather of Prithviraj Chauhan, in 1135 -1150 AD and is named after him. 

Ramappa Lake 

✅situated in Warangal district, Telangana, India.

✅ The lake is one of the prominent reservoirs built by Kakatiya rulers

✅It is believed to have been constructed in 13th Century A.D. during the reign of Ganapathi Deva 

Hussain Sagar

✅is a heart-shaped lake in Hyderabad, Telangana, built by Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah in 1563. 

✅fed by the River Musi.

✅ A large monolithic statue of the Gautama Buddha, erected in 1992, stands on Gibraltar Rock in the middle of the lake.

Nainital Lake

✅also known as Naini Lake, is a natural freshwater body, situated amidst the township of Nainital in Kumaon. 

✅It is tectonic in origin and is kidney shaped or crescent shaped and has an outfall at the southeastern end.

✅Nainital, along with other lakes of Kumaon, is integral to tourism and recreation in Kumaon. 

✅The lake is also an integral part of Kumaoni folklore.

Thol Lake

🌲Thol Lake is an artificial lake near Thol village in Kadi in Mehsana District in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was constructed as an irrigation tank in 1912

✅ It is a fresh water lake surrounded by marshes. It was declared the Thol Bird Sanctuary in 1988; it is a habitat to 150 species of birds, about 60% are waterbirds. 

✅The two most prominent species of birds recorded in the sanctuary are flamingoes and sarus crane

✅is known as a very good habitat for waterfowl during the monsoon season, extending through the winter.