Saturday 11 August 2012

Jaisamand Lake- Not the second latgest lake of Asia


We often hear and read that Jaisamand Lake, District Udaipur, Rajasthan is the second largest man made (artificial) lake of Asia. Even our text books, general knowledge papers, news papers, tourist information booklets, etc. mention it accordingly. This is not true in the present context. The facts are as under-

Jaisamand lake was constructed during the regime of Maharaja Jai Singh of the then Mewar State. (1680–1698) and named after him. The original name of this lake was Debar Lake. The lake has been created by constructing a double face wall earthen dam across River Gomti.The work of this dam was started during his regime but was completed later as the year of completion reported in the National Register of large dams is 1730.

Now, let us see the technical details of a few dams of Rajasthan as per National Register of Large Dams* (2009) maintained by Central Water Commission, Government of India, which are as under -

Particulars
Unit
JAISAMAND
Rana Pratap Sagar
Mahi Bajaj Sagar
Bisalpur
ID no.
RA11HH0002
RA11HH0075
RA11HH0119
RA11HH0160
Yr of Comp
1730
1970
1985
1999
Nearest city
Udaipur
Kota
Banswara
Deoli
River
Gomti
Chambal
Mahi
Banas
Max.Ht.
meters
41.1
53.95
74.5
39.5
Length of Dam
meters
457
1143
3109
574
Gross Storage Capacity
1000 cubic meters
4,14,000
28,98,690
21,80,000
10,95,840
Reservoir Area
1000 Square meters
52,600
1,98,290
1,34,000
2,18,360
Effective Storage
1000 cubic meters
2,96,300
15,66,520
18,33,100
10,40,950
Note - one cubic meter = 1000 liters

Thus the claim, that JAISAMAND is second largest man made lake in Asia, does not hold good in present context, as leaving aside Asia or India, it is fourth largest in the State of Rajasthan. 

Now, we may say that it is a lake and others are dams or reservoirs so there is no comparision can be done and therefore Jaisamand is still the second largest lake of Asia.  For this, if we refer to Encyclopedia Britannica, ** the definition of a lake is as under -

lake - any relatively large body of slowly moving or standing water that occupies an inland basin of appreciable size. 

If we go to a dictionary***, the meaning is as under -

lake - a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size, surrounded by land.

There are many types and classifications of lakes - like fresh water or saline lakes, natural or man made lakes, surface or underground lakes, etc.

A man made lake is called a reservoir and a reservoir is created by constructing a dam across a stream or river.  

JAISAMAND is thus a fresh water, man made lake (as it is having a reservoir created by a dam across a river.) The remaining three reservoirs, namely Rana Pratap Sagar, Mahi Bajaj Sagar and Bisalpur are also of similar nature as they have a man made dam across a river creating a reservoir. 

To clarify the above statement, we my refer to "Lake Scientist" **** which deals a lake and a reservoir as follows -

Lakes vs. Reservoirs - Reservoirs, also called impoundments, are man-made lakes.

THUS A RESERVOIR CREATED BY CONSTRUCTING A DAM ACROSS A RIVER OR STREAM IS ALWAYS A LAKE, AND WE CAN NOT SAY THAT JAISAMAND ONLY IS A LAKE AND OTHERS ARE DAMS OR RESERVOIRS.

SO, WE SHOULD CORRECT OURSELVES AND STOP CLAIMING THAT JAISAMAND IS SECOND LARGEST LAKE OF ASIA.








4 Comments:

At 23 September 2015 at 02:44 , Blogger Varsha Ramchandani said...

Very nice Post Thanks, you also can get all information about Udaipur News, People, Travel, Hotels, Restaurants, Education and Shopping in Udaipur City.

 
At 21 October 2015 at 18:25 , Blogger Rajasthan Study said...

Very nice information.

 
At 26 August 2016 at 23:59 , Blogger ishwar suthar said...

hehehe... hey body... your information is wrong... first thing in this segion of rain.. same rain having to jaismand and mahi bajaj sagar.. but still todays report jaismand not happend overflow.. and mahi gone overflow 2nd time.

Because of jaismands actual hight is not what u say.. because nobody have its acuall figurs available.. from where do u got this figure?

u should get idea that jaismand still not become overflow so what capacity it have to store water..

 
At 27 August 2016 at 00:03 , Blogger ishwar suthar said...

and also u have wrong info that jaismand is 2nd largest man made lake in asia... actually it is 1st because Upper lake was in Bhopal, India 's largest artificial lake in Asia, but is almost dried up due to lack of rainfall. so it is first now not second

 

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