The Lower Lake or Chhota Talaab is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

, the capital of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

state of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Along with the

Bhojtal Bhojtal, formerly known as Upper Lake, is a large lake which lies on the western side of the capital city of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal, India. It is a major source of drinking water for the residents of the city, serving around 40% of the residents ...

or Upper Lake, it forms the

Bhoj Wetland The Bhoj Wetland consists of two lakes located in the city of Bhopal, the capital of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The two lakes are the Bhojtal ( Upper Lake) & the Lower Lake, which lie to the west of the city center. The Bhoj ...

History

The lake was built by creating in 1794 to beautify the city. The construction was commissioned by Chote Khan, a minister of

Nawab Nawab (Balochi language, Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi language, Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian language, Persian, Punjabi language, Punjabi , Sindhi language, Sindhi, Urd ...

Hayat Muhammad Khan Bahadur. A number of earlier wells were merged in this lake. The lower lake is beside a bridge named 'Pul Pukhta'. The lower lake has also been mentioned as "Pukhta-Pul Talao" in literature.

Geography

The Lower Lake is located to the east of the Upper Lake. An earthen dam separates the two lakes. The two lakes are built in a terraced manner, the lowest level of the Upper Lake is just below the highest level of the Lower Lake. The Lower Lake has an area (water spread) of 1.29 , and its catchment area is 9.6 km². The lake receives subsurface seepage from the Upper Lake. In the 1850s, the maximum and minimum depths of the lake were 11.7 m and 6.16 m respectively. As of 2011, the maximum depth was 10.7m. The Lower Lake does not have any

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

source; it receives seepage water from the Upper Lake and drainage from 28 sewage-filled

nullah A nullah or nala ( Hindustani or "nallah" in Punjabi) is an 'arm of the sea', stream, or watercourse, a steep narrow valley. Like the wadi of the Arabs, the nullah is characteristic of mountainous or hilly country where there is little rainfall ...

s. It drains into the Patra rivulet, which joins

Halali River The Halali reservoir is a reservoir in Madhya Pradesh state of India, spanning Bhopal, Raisen, and Vidisha districts. It is built on the Halali River, and lies 40 km northwards from the state capital Bhopal. The major fish species found in t ...

, a small tributary of the

Betwa River The Betwa (Hindi: बेतवा, Sanskrit: वेत्रवती) is a river in Central and Northern India, and a tributary of the Yamuna. It rises in the Vindhya Range (Raisen) just north of Narmadapuram in Madhya Pradesh and flows north ...

Pollution

The Lower Lake suffers from pollution due to drainage from sewage-filled nullahs, lack of fresh water source and commercial washing of clothes. The entire lake is

eutrophic Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytoplank ...

, and its water is not suitable for drinking.

References

External links

Lower Lake (Chhota Talab)
at

wikimapia Wikimapia is a geographic online encyclopedia project. The project implements an interactive "clickable" web map that utilizes Google Maps with a geographically-referenced wiki system, with the aim to mark and describe all geographical objects ...

{{City of Bhopal Lakes of Madhya Pradesh Tourist attractions in Bhopal 1794 establishments in India Geography of Bhopal