page_title: Pushkar Lake
section_title: Restoration works
hierarchical_section_title: Pushkar Lake / Status and conservation issues / Restoration works
caption_attribution_description: English: a 180º panorama of Pushkar Lake in Rajasthan
context_page_description: Pushkar Lake or Pushkar Sarovar is located in the town of Pushkar in Ajmer district of the Rajasthan state of western India. Pushkar Lake is a sacred lake of the Hindus. The Hindu scriptures describe it as "Tirtha-Guru" – the perceptor of pilgrimage sites related to a water-body and relate it to the mythology of the creator-god Brahma, whose most prominent temple stands in Pushkar. The Pushkar Lake finds mention on coins as early as the 4th century BC.
  Pushkar Lake is surrounded by 52 bathing ghats, where pilgrims throng in large numbers to take a sacred bath, especially around Kartik Poornima when the Pushkar Fair is held. A dip in the sacred lake is believed to cleanse sins and cure skin diseases. Over 500 Hindu temples are situated around the lake precincts.
  Tourism and deforestation in the surroundings have taken a heavy toll on the lake, adversely affecting its water quality, reducing the water levels and destroying the fish population. As part of conservation measures, the government is undertaking de-silting, de-weeding, water treatment, and afforestation as well as mass awareness programme.
context_section_description: To supplement water supply to the lake, even as early as in 1993, the government built 12 deep tube wells to supplement water supply to the lake. However, most tube wells were dysfunctional, thereby aggravating the problem. The Union Ministry for Environment and Forests included Pushkar Lake on a list of five lakes under the National Lake Conservation Project (NLCP) for restoration. They have been providing funds since 2008 for the restoration works, but the situation has not eased.
  Development plans are under various stages of implementation to address the critical issues related to the lake. They aim to improve water quality, increase water storage capacity, prevent encroachment of the lake periphery, improve the ambiance around the lake, as well as to introduce recreational and revenue generating schemes.
  Sewage outfalls into the lake are proposed to be completely stopped by the interception and diversion of feeder lines. Lining the main feeders into the lake and setting up water treatment plants to continuously treat and recirculate the lake water are also envisioned. Conservation measures proposed for adoption to clean the lake are by way of desilting, water treatment at inlet of feeders into the lake, construction of check dams, conservation of ghats, afforestation of denuded hills in the catchment, soil moisture conservation measures, stabilization of sand dunes by planting vegetation of suitable species of plants and restriction of cultivation in the bed of feeder channels. In addition, the institutional measures considered for effecting improvement of the lake are mass awareness programmes with the population's participation as well as the control of fish proliferation to reduce the risk of death of fishes during periods of inadequate water depth in the lake.
caption: Panorama of Pushkar Lake
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