SR-6/97-98 : Status report on Sagar Lake

Abstract

There are a number of major problems that the lakes, all over the world are facing. The Sagar lake is also, not an exception. Though, geographically the lake is small and situated in the region where normal annual rainfall is more than the national average. The shallower part of the lake generally dries up during summer season. This is due to a very small catchment area contributing insufficient runoff water to the lake. The lack of vegetative cover in the catchment area causes severe problem of sedimentation to the lake.

The catchment of the lake is full of built-up areas, building stone quarrying, crop fields etc. As time passed by, inflow from these crops fields and a number of domestic and industrial effluents joining the lake have degraded its water quality to an unusable extent. The yield of fish is also reduced to a great extent as abundance of carnivorous and local minor fishes spoil the fish seed of major Carps. Population residing around the lake is also found suffering from various diseases due to lake-water. In nutshell, it can be said that the domestic use of lake-water has been ceased.

In this report, efforts are made to compile all possible published work on the Sagar lake in one place. This includes brief description of the historological and the geographical background of the lake, details of water quality analysis carried out in various years, present position of the lake and various schemes proposed and implemented for the improvement of pathetic condition of the lake. Further, this report is a first step of N.I.H. Regional Centre Sagar to understand the present conditions of Sagar lake in order to plan and conduct the hydrological studies in future.

A number of analytical studies have been carried out on biological aspect of the Sagar lake. The general observations of these studies show a high trophic status and a high organic pollution level of the Sagar lake. Also, a number of proposals and schemes from various Government agencies have been offered for the renovation of the lake, but due to lack of public awareness as well as scientific approach, the lake is still to get its golden period.