Loktak Lake

Why in news?

• A huge floating biomass/Phumdi has recently been spotted on the southern side of Manipur’s Loktak Lake.
• The island measures around 20 hectares and has ‘tou’ (locally found grass) as high as 11 feet although officials are yet to detect any signs of animals or birds in the phumdi.

About the Lake:

• Loktak Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Northeast India and is located at Moirang in Manipur state.
• It is famous for the phumdis (heterogeneous mass of vegetation, soil and organic matter at various stages of decomposition) floating over it.
• The largest of all the phumdis covers an area of 40 km2 and is situated on the south-eastern shore of the lake.
• Keibul Lamjao National Park is located on this phumdi and is the only floating national park in the world.
• The park is the last natural refuge of the endangered Sangai (state animal), or Manipur brown-antlered deer.
• It has been designated as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention on 23 March 1990.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Loktak lake is situated in the state / UT of:
(a)Jammu and Kashmir
(b)Madhya Pradesh
(c)Manipur
(d)Maharashtra

Answer to prelims question