Major lakes of India

Story hook

In October 2020, Pangong Tso — a 134 km long, 5-km wide glacial lake straddling the Ladakh-Tibet border at 4,225 m — became the most photographed lake in Indian news. Indian and Chinese troops were eyeball-to-eyeball at Finger 4, Finger 5, Finger 6 along the northern shore. The June 2020 Galwan clash (20 km north) had pushed Pangong into the headlines; the February 2021 disengagement at Pangong made it a symbol of the post-Galwan India-China cold thaw. Today, two-thirds of Pangong is in Tibetan/Chinese control (the eastern third in Indian Ladakh near Chushul). The lake is brackish despite being fresh-water-fed — its salinity rises because there is no outflow and high evaporation at altitude.

Five states away, Chilika Lake in Odisha — at 1,100 sq km the largest brackish water lagoon in Asia — was being celebrated for the recovery of Irrawaddy dolphins to 162 individuals (from a low of 78 in 2007). India's first Ramsar site (1981), Chilika is also the largest wintering ground for migratory waterbirds in the subcontinent (1 million birds yearly from Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, Mongolia, Siberia).

Between these extremes — high-altitude saline Pangong and coastal brackish Chilika — lie the ten major lakes UPSC expects you to know: Wular (largest freshwater, J&K), Dal (Srinagar tourist icon), Chilika (largest brackish lagoon, Odisha), Pulicat (second largest lagoon, TN-AP), Sambhar (largest inland salt lake, Rajasthan), Pangong (Ladakh), Tso Moriri (Ladakh), Loktak (only floating NP, Manipur), Vembanad (longest in Kerala), Kolleru (largest freshwater natural lake in AP).

Why this matters for UPSC

UPSC Prelims has asked direct lake-identification questions in 14 of the last 20 years — typically matching lake to state, lake to type (freshwater/brackish/salt), or lake to Ramsar status. Mains GS-I and GS-III have asked "Discuss the ecological significance of Indian lakes" (2018), "Should Chilika Lake be desilted by canal cutting?" (2020), and "Lakes as biodiversity indicators — discuss with reference to Loktak and Pulicat" (2023). Lakes also figure in Environment + International Relations (Pangong + China) + Cultural Geography (Dal Lake tourism).