Lakes, Dams and Waterfalls of India: Complete List
Complete notes on the lakes, dams and waterfalls of India for exams: lake types and states, dams with their rivers and reservoirs, and the highest and broadest falls.
By GK24 Editorial Team· Published · 4 min read
Lakes, dams and waterfalls are the easiest marks in the geography section, because almost every question is a pair: a lake and its state, a dam and its river, a waterfall and the river that makes it. The facts do not change, the same names return year after year, and a student who can recite the pairs can answer without reasoning. This note collects the pairs an examiner is most likely to use, and explains what makes each kind of water body distinct.
Lakes of India
A lake may be natural or man-made, freshwater or saline, and the classification itself is examinable. Wular Lake in Jammu and Kashmir, formed by the Jhelum, is the largest freshwater lake in India, while Dal Lake at Srinagar is the best known. Ladakh has the high-altitude brackish lakes Pangong Tso, which extends into Tibet, and Tso Moriri. Chilika Lake in Odisha is the largest brackish water lagoon in India and a wintering ground for migratory birds; Pulicat Lake, shared by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, is the next largest, and Sriharikota lies on the bar that separates it from the sea. Vembanad in Kerala is the longest lake in the country and the venue of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race, and Ashtamudi is the other great Kerala backwater. Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan is the largest inland saline lake and a major source of salt. Loktak Lake in Manipur carries phumdis, floating mats of vegetation, and holds Keibul Lamjao, the only floating national park in the world, home of the sangai deer. Kolleru lies between the deltas of the Krishna and the Godavari, and Lonar Lake in Maharashtra fills a crater made by a meteorite impact in the Deccan basalt.
Important dams and their rivers
| Dam | River | State |
|---|---|---|
| Bhakra Nangal | Sutlej | Himachal Pradesh and Punjab |
| Tehri | Bhagirathi | Uttarakhand |
| Hirakud | Mahanadi | Odisha |
| Sardar Sarovar | Narmada | Gujarat |
| Nagarjuna Sagar | Krishna | Telangana and Andhra Pradesh |
| Mettur (Stanley Reservoir) | Kaveri | Tamil Nadu |
| Krishna Raja Sagara | Kaveri | Karnataka |
| Idukki | Periyar | Kerala |
| Rihand | Rihand | Uttar Pradesh |
| Maithon | Barakar | Jharkhand |
| Koyna | Koyna | Maharashtra |
| Farakka Barrage | Ganga | West Bengal |
Three superlatives are asked repeatedly. Tehri on the Bhagirathi is the tallest dam in India. Hirakud on the Mahanadi, with its long earthen dykes, is among the longest dams in the world. Bhakra on the Sutlej is the highest straight gravity dam in the country, and its reservoir is Gobind Sagar; Jawaharlal Nehru called such projects the temples of modern India. The Kallanai or Grand Anicut on the Kaveri, built by the Chola king Karikala, is the oldest water-diversion structure in the country still in use. The reservoir of the Rihand dam, Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar, is the largest man-made lake in India by area. The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project on the Godavari in Telangana is a multi-stage lift scheme rather than a single storage dam, which is why questions about it ask for the state and the river rather than the height.
Waterfalls
A waterfall forms where a river crosses from hard rock to soft, or drops over the edge of a plateau. Most of India's great falls are therefore on the edge of the Deccan plateau, in the Western Ghats, or on the Meghalaya plateau. Kunchikal Falls on the Varahi in Karnataka is counted as the highest waterfall in India. Jog Falls, also in Karnataka, is formed by the Sharavathi and drops in four distinct cascades named Raja, Rani, Rocket and Roarer; it is the most photographed fall in the country. Nohkalikai Falls near Cherrapunji in Meghalaya is the tallest plunge waterfall in India, and the Seven Sisters Falls lies in the same region of extreme rainfall. Dudhsagar on the Mandovi stands on the Goa and Karnataka border. Athirappilly on the Chalakudy in Kerala and Chitrakote on the Indravati in Chhattisgarh are both called the Niagara of India, Chitrakote for its breadth. Hogenakkal in Tamil Nadu and Shivanasamudra in Karnataka are both on the Kaveri, and Shivanasamudra is remembered because Asia's first hydroelectric power station was built there in 1902. Odisha has Barehipani and Joranda in the Simlipal hills.
How the three are connected
Dams create lakes: Gobind Sagar behind Bhakra, Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar behind Rihand, Stanley Reservoir behind Mettur and Hirakud's reservoir on the Mahanadi are all man-made lakes, and questions sometimes ask for the dam when they name the reservoir. Waterfalls and dams compete for the same water, which is why a fall like Shivanasamudra is tied to a power station, and why the Sharavathi at Jog is regulated upstream. Lagoons such as Chilika and Pulicat are not true lakes at all but shallow bodies of brackish water cut off from the sea by a sand bar, and their ecology depends on the mouth staying open.
Exam Point of View
Nearly every question here is a matching pair, so learn the lists as pairs. Lake with state, dam with river, waterfall with river and state. The favourite traps are Chilika against Wular, because one is brackish and the other freshwater; Jog against Kunchikal, because one is the most famous and the other the highest; Gobind Sagar against Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar, the reservoirs of Bhakra and Rihand; and Maithon, which belongs to the Damodar Valley and is slipped into lists of Kaveri dams. Odd-one-out questions and "which of the following is NOT built across" are common. Superlatives such as tallest, longest, largest and broadest are asked directly.
Important Facts
| Largest freshwater lake | Wular Lake, Jammu and Kashmir (on the Jhelum) |
|---|---|
| Largest brackish lagoon | Chilika Lake, Odisha |
| Largest inland saline lake | Sambhar Lake, Rajasthan |
| Longest lake | Vembanad, Kerala |
| Floating national park | Keibul Lamjao on Loktak Lake, Manipur |
| Tallest dam | Tehri Dam on the Bhagirathi, Uttarakhand |
| Bhakra Dam | On the Sutlej; reservoir Gobind Sagar |
| Hirakud Dam | On the Mahanadi, Odisha; among the longest in the world |
| Largest man-made lake by area | Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar, behind the Rihand dam |
| Highest waterfall | Kunchikal Falls, Varahi river, Karnataka |
| Jog Falls | Sharavathi river, Karnataka; four cascades Raja, Rani, Rocket, Roarer |
| Broadest waterfall | Chitrakote on the Indravati, Chhattisgarh |
Practice MCQs on this topic
Which of the following dams is proposed on the Indo-Nepal border?
- A.Tehri Dam
- B.Son Dam project
- C.Rajghat Dam
- D.Pancheshwar Main Dam
Show answer
It is the centrepiece of the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project, planned on the Mahakali river, which forms part of the boundary between India and Nepal, and it is to be built and operated jointly by the two countries under the Mahakali Treaty for power, irrigation and flood control.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following dams is NOT built across the river Kaveri (Cauvery)?
- A.Maithon
- B.Mettur
- C.Kallanai
- D.Krishna Raja Sagara
Show answer
The Maithon dam is built across the Barakar, a tributary of the Damodar, in Jharkhand, and is one of the reservoirs of the Damodar Valley Corporation, so it has nothing to do with the Kaveri.
Read the full explanation →The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation System is constructed in:
- A.Kerala
- B.Gujarat
- C.Telangana
- D.Maharashtra
Show answer
The Kaleshwaram project lifts water from the Godavari near the confluence of the Godavari and the Pranahita and carries it through a chain of barrages, pump houses, tunnels and canals to the drier districts of Telangana; it is described as a multi-stage lift irrigation scheme rather than a single storage…
Read the full explanation →In which state is Jog Falls located?
- A.Uttarakhand
- B.Karnataka
- C.Jharkhand
- D.Sikkim
Show answer
Jog Falls is formed by the Sharavathi river where it drops off the edge of the Western Ghats in the Shivamogga district of Karnataka, and it falls in four separate streams traditionally named Raja, Rani, Rocket and Roarer.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following is the highest waterfall in India?
- A.Jog Falls
- B.Kunchikal Falls
- C.Rakim Kund Falls
- D.Kevti Falls
Show answer
Formed by the Varahi river in the Shivamogga district of Karnataka, it is counted as the highest waterfall in India, falling in a long series of steps through rocky terrain; because it lies within the catchment of the Mani dam, its full flow is seen mainly in the monsoon.
Read the full explanation →Which is the largest freshwater lake in India?
- A.Chilika Lake
- B.Wular Lake
- C.Sambhar Lake
- D.Vembanad Lake
Show answer
It lies in the Kashmir valley, is fed by the Jhelum, and is the largest freshwater lake in India; it acts as a natural flood absorber for the valley and is a designated wetland of international importance.
Read the full explanation →Chilika Lake, the largest brackish water lagoon in India, is located in which state?
- A.Andhra Pradesh
- B.West Bengal
- C.Odisha
- D.Tamil Nadu
Show answer
Chilika lies along the coast of Odisha, separated from the Bay of Bengal by a long sand bar, and its mixture of fresh and sea water supports one of the largest wintering grounds for migratory birds in the subcontinent as well as a population of Irrawaddy dolphins.
Read the full explanation →The Tehri Dam, the tallest dam in India, is built across which river?
- A.Alaknanda
- B.Bhagirathi
- C.Mandakini
- D.Yamuna
Show answer
The Tehri dam stands in the Tehri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, just below the point where the Bhilangana joins the Bhagirathi, and it is the tallest dam in India; it supplies power, drinking water and irrigation, and its construction submerged the old town of Tehri.
Read the full explanation →Keibul Lamjao, the only floating national park in the world, lies on which lake?
- A.Loktak Lake
- B.Kolleru Lake
- C.Ashtamudi Lake
- D.Pangong Tso
Show answer
Loktak in Manipur is covered with phumdis, floating mats of soil and decaying vegetation thick enough to walk on, and the southern part of the lake was declared Keibul Lamjao National Park, the only floating national park in the world and the last natural home of the sangai or brow-antlered…
Read the full explanation →Gobind Sagar is the reservoir created by which dam?
- A.Hirakud Dam
- B.Bhakra Dam
- C.Nagarjuna Sagar Dam
- D.Rihand Dam
Show answer
Bhakra is built across the Sutlej at the Bhakra gorge on the border of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, is the highest straight gravity dam in India, and the lake it holds is named Gobind Sagar after Guru Gobind Singh.
Read the full explanation →Sambhar Lake, the largest inland saline lake in India, is situated in which state?
- A.Gujarat
- B.Rajasthan
- C.Madhya Pradesh
- D.Haryana
Show answer
Sambhar lies west of Jaipur in a shallow depression with no outlet to the sea; water that flows in can only evaporate, leaving behind the salt that has made the lake a major source of common salt for centuries.
Read the full explanation →Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the largest lake in India?
It depends on the type. Chilika in Odisha is the largest lagoon and the largest lake by area at high water, Wular in Jammu and Kashmir is the largest freshwater lake, Sambhar in Rajasthan is the largest inland saline lake and Vembanad in Kerala is the longest. Examiners always specify the type, so read the question carefully.
What is the difference between a dam and a barrage?
A dam stores water in a reservoir behind a high wall and releases it as needed, as at Bhakra or Tehri. A barrage is a low structure with gates that raises the water level and diverts it into canals without storing much, as at Farakka on the Ganga. Anicuts such as Kallanai are older diversion works of the same kind.
Why are most Indian waterfalls in the Western Ghats and Meghalaya?
Both are plateau edges with heavy rainfall. Rivers rising on the plateau fall sharply where the land drops to the coastal plain or the Bengal plain, and the hard rock beneath resists erosion, so the fall keeps its height. That is why Jog, Kunchikal, Dudhsagar, Nohkalikai and the Seven Sisters all lie on such edges.
What are phumdis?
Phumdis are floating masses of soil, plant matter and organic material found on Loktak Lake in Manipur. Some are thick enough to carry huts and grazing animals, and the largest of them supports Keibul Lamjao National Park, the last natural refuge of the sangai or brow-antlered deer.
Which dam is called the temple of modern India?
Jawaharlal Nehru used the phrase for large multipurpose river valley projects in general, and it is most often quoted for the Bhakra Nangal project on the Sutlej, which he described in that way at its inauguration. Damodar Valley, Hirakud and Nagarjuna Sagar belong to the same generation of projects.
Sources
- India: Physical Environment (Class XI), Chapter 3: Drainage System — NCERT
- National Wetlands Inventory and Ramsar Sites of India — Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
