Enchanting artificial lake Fateh Sagar, Udaipur, Rajasthan,

Fateh Sagar Lake.www.udaipuronline.in

For any ruler in the past, providing water facilities for his subjects wasvery important, not only for the then prevailing needs but also future needs lasting several generations down the line. Fateh Sagar Lake is a good example of ingenuity and foresight of its builder  Maharana Jai Singh who first built it in  1687. After careful survey of the surrounding area and source of water for the lake, he undertook the work, carefully taking into account copious supply of water during the monsoon and future needs of the people.

Fateh Sagar Lakeen.wikipedia.org


Fateh Sagar Lake is a large pear-shaped artificial lake named after Maharana Fateh Singh of Udaipur and Mewar. The lake created  in the 1680s  is one among the four lakes in the  Udaipur city and surrounding areas. The other lake in the city is  lake Pachola. Udai Sagar Lake (13 km to the east of Udaipur) and Dhebar Lake or Jaisamand Lake (52 km south east of Udaipur) also  attract tourists. A fascinating feature about this artificial lake is there are three inlands within the lake boundary; the largest being Nehru park covering 4 sq. kilometer. the other islands are smaller in size. They are accessed by motor boats. The second island is converted into a public park with brilliant water-jet fountains by the Government of Rajasthan.The third island has  Udaipur Solar Observatory, which is the best solar observing site in Asia.

The lakes bunds gave in 1889 due to heavy flooding and  Maharana Fatah Singh in the same year strengthened the bunds and built a dam on lake Deawali. He named the dam Connaught Dam in honor of  Duke of Connaught, son of Queen Victoria who was on a visit to India that time. Because of new dam, the size of lake enlarged and later it came to be known as Fateh Sagar Lake. The source of water is from monsoon rains. The lake and the dam (800 meter long) are built in such a way the lake is fed by the runoff from the surrounding  Aravalli mountains that encircle it and the spillway in the dam on the


Fateh Sagar Lake.Udaipur. www.tourmyindia.com
eastern side regulates the flood flows during monsoon into the lake. Besides, three causeways  from Madar, Pichola and  Bedi lakes  lead to the lake and three inlet channels feed  the lake.

Though the use of water for irrigation purposes is restricted, Water pollution is a major threat in the wake of  development of housing, urbanization and more use of chemical fertilizers in the fringe areas around the lake. De-silting was done on a large scale in the 1990s and later to improve the storage capacity of the lake. Algal bloom was a major problem. The central and state governments along with local bodies are making every effort to improve the quality of water as the Udaipur city is, to a large extent, dependent on the lake water.


Lots of people and tourists visit this enchanting lake with mountains in the back drop for fun and relaxations. The serene environment offers them peace of mind and relief from urban madness and office mayhem.

Ref:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fateh_Sagar_Lake

http://www.udaipur.org.uk/lakes/fateh-sagar-lake.html