CHILIKA LAKE              

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Context

• Chilika Lake, saw a million birds, including the uncommon Mongolian gull, visiting the waterbody this year.

About

• Chilika Lake is a brackish water lagoon, spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Odisha.
• Chilika Lake is a shallow bar-built estuary with large areas of mudflats.
• Location: It is located at the mouth of the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal, covering an area of over 1,100 km2.

Climate

• A tropical monsoon climate prevails over the drainage basin area of the lake.
• The lake experiences South–west and North-east monsoons

Trivia

• It is the biggest lake of India.This lake is the largest coastal lagoon in India and the largest brackish water lagoon in the world after The New Caledonian barrier reef.
• Recognition: It has been listed as a tentative UNESCO World Heritage site. It is the largest salt water lake in India.
• It is the largest wintering ground for migratory birds on the Indian sub-continent.
• Birds from as far as the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, Aral Sea and other remote parts of Russia, Kirghiz steppes of Kazakhstan, Central and southeast Asia, Ladakh and Himalayas come here.
• In 1981, Chilika Lake was designated the first Indian wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.

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