Pulicat Lake: India’s Second-Largest Lagoon

A thin sandy island separates a huge lagoon from the Bay of Bengal. On that island, India launches its rockets. In the lagoon, flamingos gather by the thousand.

MCQ Questions

IndGeo0098

2nd largest brackish lagoon in India

Pulicat Lake, on the Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border, ranks behind only Odisha‘s Chilika Lake.

Area

~759 sq km

Spans Tirupati district (Andhra Pradesh) and Thiruvallur district (Tamil Nadu)

Sanctuary Declared

1990

Formally declared a Wildlife Sanctuary on 30 May 1990, after an earlier 1980 notification

Fort Geldria

1613

The Dutch East India Company’s first Indian settlement, built at Pulicat town

Barrier Island

Sriharikota

Separates the lagoon from the sea, and hosts ISRO‘s Satish Dhawan Space Centre

A wetland under real, ongoing pressure: silt from its river inflows and the Buckingham Canal, along with pollution and encroachment, is slowly filling Pulicat Lake in. Government-backed desilting work only began in 2024.

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Must Know

• Pulicat Lake is a shallow, brackish-water lagoon on India’s Bay of Bengal coast, covering roughly 759 sq km.
• It is India’s second-largest brackish-water lagoon, after Chilika Lake in Odisha.
• It spans two states: mainly Tirupati district in Andhra Pradesh, and Thiruvallur district in Tamil Nadu.
• Three rivers feed it: the Arani River at its southern tip, the Kalangi River from the northwest, and the Swarnamukhi River at its northern end.
• The narrow barrier island of Sriharikota separates the lagoon from the Bay of Bengal.
• Sriharikota also hosts ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India’s main satellite launch site.
• Part of the lake was notified as a bird sanctuary in 1980, and formally declared a Wildlife Sanctuary on 30 May 1990.
• BirdLife International recognises it as an Important Bird Area, home to flamingos, pelicans, painted storks, and many migratory species.

Good to Know

• The Dutch East India Company built Fort Geldria at Pulicat town in 1613, its first settlement in India.
• Fort Geldria became the capital of Dutch Coromandel in 1616, governing Dutch trading posts along the coast.
• Dutch influence declined through the late 1600s, as the Mughal Empire expanded south and competition from the British grew. The regional headquarters moved to Negapatnam by 1689.
• The fort and settlement finally passed to British control in 1795, during the French Revolutionary Wars.
• The Buckingham Canal, a colonial-era navigation channel, also passes through the lagoon.
• Pulicat faces real, ongoing threats: silt from its river inflows, pollution, and encroachment are slowly filling it in. Government-backed desilting efforts only began in 2024.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. Pulicat Lake is India’s second-largest brackish-water lagoon. Which lagoon ranks first?

Vembanad Lake, Kerala

Chilika Lake, Odisha

Ashtamudi Lake, Kerala

Kolleru Lake, Andhra Pradesh

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Great to Know

• Don’t call Pulicat Lake India’s largest lagoon. That title belongs to Chilika Lake in Odisha. Pulicat ranks second.
• Sriharikota does two very different jobs at once. It is the barrier island that physically separates Pulicat Lake from the sea, and it is also the ground ISRO’s rockets launch from. The two facts are connected, not coincidental: the same isolation that shapes the lagoon also gives ISRO a secure, sparsely populated launch site.
• See IndGeo0028 — The Coromandel Coast for the broader coastline Pulicat Lake sits on, including the wider pattern of European trading settlements along it.