Loktak Lake

Loktak is the largest freshwater lake in northeast India, and what makes it unlike any other is the phumdi: floating masses of vegetation, soil and organic matter that build up into islands thick enough to walk on and to build huts on, drifting with the wind. Fishing families live on them, and many have been cut into rings, phum, which act as enclosures for fish farming, so the lake from above shows hundreds of dark circles on the water. A hydroelectric barrage built in the 1980s changed water levels permanently and has thinned the phumdi, which is the central conservation problem here.

Background

Loktak is a pulsating lake near Moirang whose surface swells from 250 km2 to 500 km2 in the rains, though it usually spreads over about 287 km2. Its name joins the Meitei words lok, stream, and tak, the end. The largest phumdi covers 40 km2 on the southeastern shore and carries Keibul Lamjao National Park, the last natural refuge of the sangai. The lake supplies water for hydropower, irrigation and drinking, and about 100,000 people live in 55 hamlets around it. It became a Ramsar site on 23 March 1990 and was placed on the Montreux Record of threatened sites on 16 June 1993, and Loktak Day is held each year on 15 October.

Source: Wikipedia, "Loktak Lake"

What you'll find

• The phumdi rings - hundreds of circular fish pens cut from floating vegetation.
• The floating huts - fishing families living on the islands.
• The boat routes - canoes and motorboats through the channels.
• The hill viewpoints - overlooks showing the rings from above.

When to go

October to March for clear weather and calm water; the monsoon raises levels and makes boating harder. Mornings are best for mist and light on the rings.

Practical notes

The barrage has damaged the ecosystem. Boats vary in safety standards.

Nearby

Keibul Lamjao lies on the lake; Imphal is northeast.

Key facts