Vembanad Lake and the Kerala Backwaters

A single barrier, over a kilometre long, splits India’s longest lake into two different worlds. On one side, salt water. On the other, fresh.

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Indian Geography · IndGeo0041

Vembanad Lake: One Lake, Two Waters

North of the Bund

Freshwater section

THANNEER-
MUKKOM
BUND

South of the Bund

Brackish, saltwater section

~96 km

India’s longest lake

1,252 m

Length of the salinity bund

Ramsar 2002

2nd-largest Ramsar site in India

Snake boats every August

Since 1952, the Nehru Trophy race has drawn crowds to Punnamada, where long chundan vallam snake boats race across the lake Nehru himself once inaugurated the event on.

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Must Know

• Vembanad Lake, in Kerala, is India’s longest lake, running about 96 kilometres.
• It spans Alappuzha, Kottayam, and Ernakulam districts, and is the largest of Kerala’s famous backwaters.
• Four rivers feed the lake, and it opens into the Arabian Sea near Kochi.
• Vembanad became a Ramsar wetland site in 2002, the second-largest Ramsar site in India after the Sundarbans.
• The lake formed as an estuary, where river freshwater and sea saltwater meet and mix.

Good to Know

• The Thanneermukkom Bund, a 1,252-metre barrier built across the lake, has operated since 1976. It is India’s largest mud regulator.
• The bund splits Vembanad into two zones: a freshwater section and a brackish, saltwater section.
• It was built to keep saltwater and tidal flow out of the low-lying Kuttanad farmlands nearby.
• Houseboat cruises, using traditional cargo boats called kettuvallams converted for tourism, are the most popular way to explore the backwaters.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. Vembanad Lake, in Kerala, holds which distinction among India’s lakes?

It is India’s longest lake, running about 96 kilometres

It is India’s largest freshwater lake by volume

It is India’s highest-altitude lake

It is India’s only tidal lake

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Great to Know

• Vembanad’s mix of fresh and salt water supports around 180 fish species, along with pearl-culture initiatives on the lake.
• Migratory birds, including the Siberian crane, visit the lake and its surrounding wetlands.
• Every August, the Nehru Trophy snake boat race draws huge crowds to a section of the lake near Punnamada.
• The race, featuring long chundan vallam snake boats, has run since 1952, when Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated its first edition.