View source for Powai Lake

{{Short description|Lake in Mumbai, India}}
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{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name = Powai Lake
| image =Powai Lake Summer.JPG
| caption =
| alt = View of Powai lake
| image_bathymetry =
| pushpin_map = Mumbai
| pushpin_map_alt = Location of Powai lake within Mumbai
| caption_bathymetry =
| location = [[Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra]]
| coords = {{Coord|19.13|72.91|type:waterbody_region:IN-MH}}
| lake_type =
| inflow =
| outflow =
| catchment = {{Convert|6.61|km2|abbr=on}}
| basin_countries = India
| length =
| width =
| area =
| depth =
| max-depth = {{Convert|12|m|abbr=on}}
| volume =
| residence_time =
| shore =
| elevation = {{Convert|58.5|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}
| islands =
| cities = [[Powai]]
}}

[[File:JVLR and Powai Lake View from Emerald Isle 1.jpg|thumb|500px|The JVLR & Powai Lake as seen from the top of Emerald Isle, Powai]]
[[File:PowaiLake Stitch Panorama from Shimmering Heights 16th Floor Window.jpg|thumb|Powai Lake]]
'''Powai Lake''' (Pronunciation: [[Help:IPA/Marathi|[pəʋəiː]]]) is an [[artificial lake]], situated in [[Mumbai]], India, in the [[Powai]] valley, where a [[Powai]] village with a cluster of huts existed. The city suburb called [[Powai]] shares its name with the lake.
[[Indian Institute of Technology Bombay]], one of the premier institutions of science and technology in India, is located to the east of the lake.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://powaidevelopments.weebly.com/ |title=Powai lake |access-date=2012-08-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924041214/http://powaidevelopments.weebly.com/ |archive-date=2014-09-24 }}</ref> Another famous institution, the [[IIM Mumbai]] erstwhile known as [[National Institute of Industrial Engineering]] (NITIE), is also located close to the lake. Housing complexes and plush hotels are developed all around the lake periphery. Population around the lake has thus substantially increased over the years.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}
[[File:River-Geography-Mumbai.png|thumb|left|200px|Powai Lake is located downstream of the [[Vihar Lake]] on the [[Mithi River]]]]
When it was built, the lake had an area of about {{convert|2.1|km2|acre}} and the depth varied from about {{convert|3|m|ft}} (at the periphery) to {{convert|12|m|ft}} at its deepest.<ref name="A Brief History of Powai Lake">{{cite web|url=http://members.tripod.com/MSAAPowai/history.htm |title=History Of Powai Lake |publisher=Members.tripod.com |access-date=2013-10-24}}</ref>

The Powai Lake has gone through many stages of water quality degradation. The lake water which used to supply drinking water for Mumbai has been declared unfit to drink. The lake remains a [[tourist attraction]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bombay-mumbai-hotels.com/tourist-attractions/powai-lake.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510093347/http://www.bombay-mumbai-hotels.com/tourist-attractions/powai-lake.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=10 May 2007 |title=Mumbai Hotels: Mumbai Tourist Attractions: Powai Lake |publisher=Bombay-mumbai-hotels.com |access-date=2012-08-30}}</ref>

==History==
Before the lake was built by the [[British people|British]], in 1799 [[AD]], the estate where the lake is now was leased on a yearly rent to Dr. Scott. After his death in 1816, the government took control of the estate in 1826 and leased it to Framaji Kavasji, then the vice-president of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of Western India<ref name="GAZ">{{cite web|date=1987|title=Greater Bombay Places - Powai Lake|url=http://cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/greater_bombay/places.html#45|access-date=7 March 2012|publisher=Maharashtra State Gazetteers}}</ref> after whom the lake was named when it was built in 1891.

A stream tributary of the [[Mithi river]], which served the Powai village's water needs, was dammed in 1891, during the British period. It was initially to augment water supply to Bombay city (now called Mumbai), by constructing two dams of 10 m to store the rain water flowing from the lower slopes of the Western Ghats and streams from the eastern and northeastern slopes of hills.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.satellite-sightseer.com/id/6583 |title=Powai Lake One of the lakes supplying water to Mumbai |location=19.126923;72.90287 |publisher=Satellite-sightseer.com |access-date=2012-08-30}}</ref> It was planned as an antiwater famine measure, to the southeast of [[Vihar Lake]] (a much larger lake) also for water supply to Mumbai city.<ref name="grassrootsresearch1">{{cite web |url=http://grassrootsresearch.org/papersandarticles/sweden%20paper.pdf |title=A design for echo sustainability: lessons from a stressed environment in Mumbai |publisher=Grassrootsresearch.org |access-date=2012-08-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216191628/http://grassrootsresearch.org/papersandarticles/sweden%20paper.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-16 }}</ref> The scheme was taken in hand in 1889. Though it was completed within a year at an initial cost of more than Rs. 6,50,000 and started providing two million gallons of water per day, it had to be abandoned due to the hue and cry against the quality of the water. Five lakhs of rupees more were spent on the scheme in 1919 in an attempt to restore the supply at least for the suburbs but this, too, was given up with the development of the Tansa works.<ref name="GAZ"/>

After the drinking water supply objective was abandoned in the early 1890s, in view of poor quality of the water due to pollution, [[water hyacinth]] and [[weed]]s, untreated sewage and large silt deposit, the lake was leased to the Western India Fishing Association, a [[Government-owned corporation|quasi government organisation]], who used it for fish culture and [[angling]]. Later, the Bombay Presidency Angling Association was formed in 1936. In 1955, under the Societies Registration Act 1860, it was registered as the Maharashtra State Angling Association (MSAA) and the lake is now under their control. Realising the gravity of the environmental pollution, the MSAA has revised its constitution "to actively care for, clean, develop, maintain, and beautify the Environment at Powai Lake."

MSAA is now involved with
* removal of water hyacinth infestation
* supporting research with Fisheries Department for conservation of the Indian [[Mahseer|mahaseer]]
* water quality analysis
* augmenting security.<ref name="A Brief History of Powai Lake"/>

[[File:Powai Lake Panorama.jpg|thumb|center|700px|Panorama of Powai Lake, seen from the campus of [[Indian Institute of Technology Bombay|IIT Bombay]], in December 2012]]

==Access==
The lake is about {{convert|40|km|mi}} from [[Mumbai]]'s downtown by road and is approached via [[Kurla]] or through [[Santacruz, Mumbai|Santa Cruz]] and [[Andheri]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mumbainet.com/travel/powailake.htm |title=Powai Lake |publisher=Mumbainet.com |access-date=2012-08-30 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216034701/http://www.mumbainet.com/travel/powailake.htm |archive-date=2012-02-16 }}</ref> [[Kanjurmarg]] on the  [[Central Line (Mumbai Suburban Railway)]] of the  [[Mumbai Suburban Railway]] is the nearest railway station to the lake. The airport is also nearby.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hiranandani.com/Hiranandani_Gardens.aspx|title=Hiranandani Gardens – 1 BHK and 2 BHK Flats / Apartments &#124; Residential Project in Powai, Mumbai}}</ref>

==Hydrology and water quality==
[[File:Lake just trying to overflow.JPG|thumb|right|250px| Powai Lake Mumbai overflowing after rains of 26 and 27 July 2005]]
It is reported that the average rainfall at Powai is about {{convert|2540|mm|in}}, and the lake overflows for about sixty days each year. The overflow from the lake flows into the [[Mithi River]]. Silt studies conducted in 1995 estimates in that 4500 lakh cubic metres of silt has been deposited in the lake since its construction.<ref name="A Brief History of Powai Lake"/> It supplied two million gallons of water to Bombay (now Mumbai) when it was built. Following the construction of the [[Tansa dam]] and creation of the reservoir, in 1892, Powai waters were used for irrigation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/powai-lake |title=Powai Lake: Information from Answers.com |website=[[Answers.com]] |access-date=2013-10-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140828111143/http://www.answers.com/topic/powai-lake |archive-date=28 August 2014 }}</ref> The lake drains a catchment of 6.61&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> (part of the Powai-Kanheri hill ranges which also drain into the adjoining [[Vihar Lake]] and [[Tulsi Lake]]). The dam, built in stone masonry has a height varying from 3 m to 6m with top level of the dam kept at E.L. 58.5 m (with Town hall datum).<ref name="maharashtra1">{{cite web|url=http://envis.maharashtra.gov.in/envis_data/pps/pawai2.ppt |title=Envis |publisher=Envis.maharashtra.gov |access-date=2012-08-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715195652/https://envis.maharashtra.gov.in/envis_data/pps/pawai2.ppt |archive-date=2011-07-15 }}</ref> Government of [[Maharashtra]] reports that due to [[eutrophication]] of the lake water from untreated sewage and garbage from nearby residential and slum colonies, the lake water is unfit for drinking water use. Hence, the lake is now used for recreation, gardening, cattle washing and fishing. The water of the lake is also supplied to [[Aarey]] colony and [[Larsen & Toubro]] for non domestic uses. [[Dissolved Oxygen]] (DO) level at the bottom of the lake is reported to be 0.71&nbsp;mg/litre and at surface 4.11&nbsp;mg/litre, average value of pH is 7.2 and COD is 42.70&nbsp;mg/litre on the surface and 119&nbsp;mg/litre at the bottom of the lake.<ref name="maharashtra1"/>

==Lake rejuvenation==
Appreciating the problem of silting, growth of water hyacinth, weed, and eutrophication of the lake, the IIT Bombay's Class of 1980 launched a "Revitalization of Powai Lake" with the objective of restoring the lake to its original pristine and sustainable form by adopting Eco-friendly designs and materials for the restoration works.<ref>[http://www.iitbombay.org/iitbfund/opportunities/powai.html] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20071211032632/http://www.iitbombay.org/iitbfund/opportunities/powai.html|date=11 December 2007}}</ref>

==Desilting project==
The Lake's water depth is reported to have reduced to as little as {{convert|0.33|m|ft}} at some locations, on account of the large inflow of sewage, domestic waste water and silt from surrounding residential and industrial areas.<ref name="grassrootsresearch1"/>

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has therefore plans to desilt the Powai Lake at a cost of US$9 million.<ref>[https://www.processregister.com/Powai_Lake_Desilting/Project/pid17904.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101111232704/https://www.processregister.com/Powai_Lake_Desilting/Project/pid17904.htm|date=11 November 2010}}</ref>

==Fauna==
The lake is home to at least 18 [[Mugger crocodile|Indian marsh crocodiles]], as per a 2022 BMC census.<ref>[http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=70182]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430125915/http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=70182|date=30 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Arora-Desai |first=Prayag |date=21 July 2022 |title=Powai Lake home to at least 18 crocodiles: BMC’s first ever census |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/mumbai-news/powai-lake-home-to-at-least-18-crocodiles-bmc-s-first-ever-census-101658341944686.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250322064245/https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/mumbai-news/powai-lake-home-to-at-least-18-crocodiles-bmc-s-first-ever-census-101658341944686.html |archive-date=22 March 2025 |access-date=22 March 2025 |website=Hindustan Times}}</ref>

==Powai Lake views==
<gallery>
File:Powai-Lake.jpg|Powai Lake
File:Powai Lake Summer.JPG
File:Powai Lake, before rain.jpg|Powai Lake - Before Heavy Showers of Rain
File:Powai Lake, after rain.jpg|Powai Lake - After Heavy Showers of Rain
</gallery>

<gallery widths="600px" heights="265px" caption="">
File:Powai Lake in night.JPG|Powai lake in night. Picture take from JVLR side
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.planetpowai.com Community Newspaper of Powai]
*[https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=19.128566,72.904651&spn=0.014556,0.020127&t=k&q=Mumbai Powai Lake Satellite image] in Google Maps
*[http://www.powaitemple.com Powai Temple] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716184000/http://www.powaitemple.com/ |date=16 July 2015 }}
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080208131444/http://www.powai.info/ All Info on powai categorized]}}

{{Waters of South Asia}}
{{Tourist attractions in Mumbai}}

[[Category:Lakes of Mumbai]]
[[Category:Reservoirs in Maharashtra]]