The world-famous Sambhar Salt Lake in Rajasthan is constantly shrinking with the degradation of soil and water quality and a decline in the population of migratory birds.

Sambhar Lake

• The lake, situated 80 km south-west of Jaipur, is the country’s largest inland saline water body which attracts thousands of migratory birds every year.
• The death of more than 20,000 birds belonging to about 10 species which migrate annually to the lake had made international headlines in 2019.
• The lake receives water from six rivers: Mantha, Rupangarh, Khari, Khandela, Medtha and Samod.
• Sambhar has been designated as a Ramsar site because the wetland is a key wintering area for tens of thousands of pink flamingos and other birds that migrate from northern Asia and Siberia.

Threats: Illegal mining

• 30% of the Sambhar Lake’s area had been lost to mining and other activities, including the illegal salt pan encroachments.
• It has also threatened the livelihoods of local people who have always lived in harmony with the lake and its ecology.

Try answering this:

Which one of the following is an artificial lake? (CSP 2014)

(a) Kodaikanal (Tamil Nadu)

(b) Kolleru (Andhra Pradesh)

(c) Nainital (Uttarakhand)

(d) Renuka (Himachal Pradesh)

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