Conservation of Lonar Lake

 Conservation of Lonar Lake

• The development of Lonar lake, which recently turned pink, also includes conservation and preservation of the water body, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has said, emphasizing the need to “appreciate its biology, geology and aesthetic value”. 

Reasons Behind Pink Water of Lonar Lake

• According to the Agharkar Research Institute, the color of Lonar lake water in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district turned pink due to a large presence of the salt-loving ‘Haloarchaea’ microbes.
• The water samples have been tested by the Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and the Agharkar Research Institute in Pune.
• It has been assumed that the absence of rain, less human interference (owing to lockdown), and high temperature resulted in the evaporation of water which increased its salinity and pH.
• pH is a measure of how acidic/basic water is.
• The increased salinity and pH facilitated the growth of halophilic microbes, mainly Haloarchaea.
• Halophiles are a group of microorganisms that can grow and often thrive in areas of high salt (NaCl) concentration.
• Haloarchaea or halophilic archaea is a bacteria culture that produces pink pigment and is found in water saturated with salt.
• Because of the biomass of Haloarchaea microbes, the surface of the water turned red or pink. As the biomass subsides, the color will disappear.
• The color of the lake is now returning to original as the rainy season has kicked in, allowing dilution of the water. The salinity and pH/alkalinity levels have also come down and green algae have started growing in the water body.
• Further, it was noted that Haloarchaea microbes were ingested by Flamingos.
• These microbes acted as carotenoid (pigment) rich food for the birds.
• Flamingos get their red-pink color from special coloring chemicals called pigments found in the algae and invertebrates they eat.

Lonar Lake

• Lonar Lake, also known as Lonar crater, is a saline and alkaline lake located at Lonar in Buldhana district, Maharashtra.
• It is situated inside the Deccan Plateau—a massive plain of volcanic basalt rock created by eruptions.
• It is oval-shaped and has a mean diameter of 1.2 km. It is a popular tourist hub.
• It is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument.
• Geo-heritage refers to the geological features which are inherently or culturally significant offering insight to earth’s evolution or history to earth science or that can be utilized for education.
• Geological Survey of India (GSI) is the parent body that is making efforts towards the identification and protection of geo-heritage sites.
• It is believed to have been created over 52,000 years ago when a meteorite hit the Earth.

Source: The Hindu