Important Lakes in India: Largest Lake in India | UPSC Notes

Lakes in India

Lakes in India can be defined as water bodies surrounded by land which is used by humans to fulfil their everyday needs of water to cook food, raise cattle, wash clothes, etc. These are found in landscapes like Hilly areas, plateaus, plains, rift zones, etc. There are many lakes, of which 62 are important lakes in India, i.e., lakes in almost all the states and Union territories.

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Type of Lakes in India

India is a land with many water bodies, including lakes, rivers, and other water bodies. Lakes are significant sources that add to the land’s natural beauty. The lakes are formed from the water that comes from rain, streams, snow, melting ice, and groundwater seepage. Based on the source of water, the types of lakes in India are as follows:

• Freshwater Lakes – They are unsalted water that is usually found in low-lying areas. These are fed from rivers, streams, and runoff from the surrounding area. The largest freshwater lake in India is Wular Lake. Also, check which is the largest freshwater lake in the world here.
• Saltwater Lakes – As the name suggests, the saltwater lake contains a concentration of salts and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (at least 3 grams per litre of water).
• Artificial Lakes – It is a man-made lake that is used to store water for public use.
• Oxbow Lakes – It is formed when a wide meander of a river is cut off. A lake is then formed when the river finds a different shorter course.
• Crater Lakes – It is created from the collapse or explosive activity of volcanic eruptions.

List of Important Lakes in India [State-Wise]

By going through the list of important lakes in India, one can get to know the state-wise names and types of lakes of India. It is important to memorize these facts to score well in competitive exams such as UPSC. Here is a table of the important lakes in India with their location.

Lakes in India	District	State/UT	Types of Lakes
Pulicat Lake	Sullurpet	Andhra Pradesh	Brackish Water
Kolleru Lake	Vijayawada	Andhra Pradesh	Freshwater
Nagarjuna Sagar	Nalgonda	Andhra Pradesh	Freshwater
Haflong Lake	Silchar	Assam	Freshwater
DeeporBeel	Kamrup	Assam	Freshwater (Tectonically formed)
Son Beel	Karimganj	Assam	Freshwater
Chandubi lake	Kamrup	Assam	Oxbox (Freshwater)
Kanwar Lake	Begusarai	Bihar	Oxbox (Freshwater)
Hamirsar lake	Kutch	Gujarat	Artificial
Kankaria lake	Ahmedabad	Gujarat	Artificial
Narayan Sarovar	Kutch	Gujarat	Artificial Freshwater
Thol Lake	Mehsana	Gujarat	Lentic lake
Vastrapur	Ahmedabad	Gujarat	Freshwater
Badkal Lake	Faridabad	Haryana	Freshwater
Blue Bird Lake	Hisar	Haryana	Freshwater
Brahma Sarovar	Thaneswar	Haryana	Freshwater
Damdama Lake	Sohna	Haryana	Freshwater
Karna	Karnal	Haryana	Freshwater
Tilyar	Rohtak	Haryana	Freshwater ((canal inflow)
Chandra Taal	Lahul and Spiti	Himachal Pradesh	Sweetwater lake
Suraj Taal	Lahul and Spiti	Himachal Pradesh	Freshwater (High Altitude)
Maharana Pratap Sagar	Kangra	Himachal Pradesh	Freshwater
Prashar lake	Mandi	Himachal Pradesh	Holomitic (Freshwater)
Agara lake	Bangalore	Karnataka	Freshwater
Bellandur Lake	Bangalore	Karnataka	Freshwater
Karanji lake	Mysore	Karnataka	–
Ulsoor lake	Bangalore	Karnataka	Stale water
Kukarahalli lake	Mysore	Karnataka	Freshwater
Honnamana	Kodagu	Karnataka	Freshwater
Pampa Sarovar	Hampi	Karnataka	Freshwater
Ashtamudi Kayal	Kollam	Kerala	Brackish water
Kuttanad	Alappuzha, Kottayam	Kerala	Brackish water
Vembanad	_	Kerala	Brackish water
Shashtamkotta	Kollam	Kerala	Freshwater
Bhojtal	Bhopal	Madhya Pradesh	Freshwater
Salim Ali	Aurangabad	Maharashtra	Freshwater
Shivsagar	Satara	Maharashtra	Freshwater
Lonar lake	Buldhana	Maharashtra	Crater lake
Loktak lake	–	Manipur	Lenticular freshwater
Umiam	Shillong	Meghalaya	Freshwater
Tam Dil	Saitual	Mizoram	Freshwater
Chilika lake	Puri	Orissa	Brackish water
Kanjia lake	Bhubaneswar	Orissa	Freshwater
Harike	Ferozepur	Punjab	Freshwater
Rupar	Rupnagar	Punjab	Freshwater
Kanjli	Kapurthala	Punjab	Freshwater
Sambhar lake	Sambhar Lake-town	Rajasthan	Saltwater
Rajsamand	Rajsamand	Rajasthan	Freshwater
Tsomgo lake	East Sikkim	Sikkim	Freshwater
Khecheoplari	West Sikkim	Sikkim	Freshwater
Ooty lake	Nilgiris	Tamil Nadu	Freshwater
Chembarambakkam	Chennai	Tamil Nadu	Artificial lake
Hussain Sagar	Hyderabad	Telangana	Artificial lake
Badrakali lake	Warangal	Telangana	Freshwater
Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar	Sonbhadra	Uttar Pradesh	Man-made lake
Belasagar	Kulpahar	Uttar Pradesh	Freshwater
Bhimtal	Nainital	Uttarakhand	Freshwater
East Calcutta wetlands	Calcutta	West Bengal	Brackish water

List of Important Lakes in Indian Union Territories

The given list provides you with a list of famous lakes in Indian Union Territories:

State	Lakes in India	District	Type of Lakes	Facts/Description
Chandigarh	Sukhna Lake	Chandigarh	Reservoir	–
Ladakh	Tso Moriri or Lake Moriri	Ladakh	Brackish	Known as ‘Mountain Lake’
	Tso Kar	Ladakh	Fluctuating Salt Lake	–
	Pangong Tso	Leh	–	–
Jammu & Kashmir	Dal lake	Srinagar	Warm monomitic	Remnants of the past glacial period
	Nageen Lake	Srinagar	Eutrophic Lake	Seldomly considered to be a part of Dal Lake
	Pangong Tso	Ladakh	Endorheic Lake (saline water)	Indo-China Border
	Wular lake	Bandipora	Tectonic lake (freshwater)	The largest freshwater lake in India
	TsoMoriri	Ladakh	Saltwater	High altitude lake
West Bengal	East Calcutta wetlands	Calcutta	Brackish water	Ramsar wetland
Puducherry	Bahour Lake	Puducherry	–	The second largest lake in Puducherry
	Ousteri Lake	Puducherry	Man-Made Lake (Important Wetlands in India)	It is also called Ossudu Lake as it is located in the village named Ossudu. It is the largest lake of Puducherry.
	Velrampet Lake	Puducherry	–	–
	Nallambal Lake	Karaikal	Artificial Lake

Famous Lakes in India

A few of these important lakes of India are explained below:

• Kolleru Lake – It is located in one of the largest freshwater lakes located between Godavari and Krishna delta in Andhra Pradesh. It is home to many migratory birds, with Atapaka Bird Sanctuary at its belt.
• Sambhar Lake – It is the largest inland salt lake in India in Rajasthan. This lake has mythological meaning. As per Mahabharat, this lake was part of king Brishparva’s kingdom.
• Wular Lake – The Wular lake is situated in Jammu Kashmir, covering an area of 10km in breadth and 24km in length. It is the largest freshwater lake in India and stands second on the list of Asia’s largest freshwater lakes.
• Pulicat Lake – It is situated in Andhra Pradesh. Along with the lake, Pulicat Bird Sanctuary, with birds like kingfishers, flamingos, sight storks, etc., is a source of tourism.
• Pushkar Lake – It is another Hindu sacred lake in Rajasthan. It is described as the Tritha-Guru in Hindu scripts.
• Sasthamcotta Lake – It is Kerala’s largest freshwater lake that is surrounded by hills on three sides. Along with the lake, the ancient Sastha temple is the center of attraction for tourists.
• Vembanad Lake – The Aranmula temple, the Vaikom, and Thyckkal beaches along the side of the Vembanad of Kerala have importance in terms of tourism. The park along it accounts for attracting people to the beauty.

Largest Lake in India

The largest lake in India is the Vembanad Lake. It is the largest lake in India, situated in the district of Kerela, with an area of 2033 sq. km. The top 10 largest lakes in India, along with the states, are as follows:

List of Biggest Lakes in India	State/UT	Area covered (Increasing order)
Wular lake	Jammu and Kashmir	260 sq km
Loktak Lake	Manipur	285 sq km
Nagarjuna Sagar Lake	Telangana	287 sq km
Sardar Sarovar Lake	Gujarat	375 sq km
Pulicat Lake	Andhra Pradesh	450 sq. km
Pangong Lake	Ladakh	627 sq. km
Indira Sagar lake	Madhya Pradesh	700 sq. km
Shivaji Sagar Lake	Maharashtra	891.7 sq km
Chilika Lake	Odisha	1165 sq km
Vembanad Lake	Kerala	2033 sq km

Uses of Lakes in India

India has about 4% of the global freshwater, but unfortunately, the country is facing the worst water crisis ever. In such a scenario, the lakes hold a great deal of importance to India. Here are some of the importance that the lakes in India provide to us:

• Drinking water
• Irrigation
• Navigation
• Water storage
• Livelihood (fishing, etc.)
• Home to aquatic animals
• Impact on microclimate, etc.

☛ Know More: State Some Economic Benefits of Rivers and Lakes

Lakes in India UPSC Facts

Lakes in India UPSC is an important segment of the IAS Exam. Here are some of the commonly asked questions about Lakes in India. Read the essential facts about the famous lakes in India.

Criteria	Name of the Lake	State/UT
Largest freshwater lake in India	Wular Lake	Jammu and Kashmir
Largest Artificial Lake in India	Govind Vallabh Pant Sagar	Sonbhadra district, Uttar Pradesh
Highest lake in India (Altitude)	Cholamu lake	Sikkim
Largest Saline water lake in India	Chilka Lake	Odisha
Longest Lake in India	Vembanad lake	Kerala

Lakes in India UPSC Questions

A few questions have been asked in the UPSC Prelims and Mains exam from Lakes of India UPSC topic. Some of the questions asked are as follows-

Question – Which of the following is valid about lakes in India?

1. Most of the lakes in the world are freshwater lakes.
2. In regions of low precipitation and intense evaporation, lakes are saline.

Select the correct answer from the following codes

1. Only 1
2. Only 2
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer – C

Question – Consider the following statement with respect to Wular Lake.

1. It is located in Kashmir
2. It was created by Tectonic activity
3. It is fed by the river Jhelum

Select the correct option:

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Answer – D

Question – What are the famous lakes in India, and how are they important? Explain any five of them. [UPSC Mains]

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