Nepal
As the geography of Nepal is diverse, rugged and hard-to-reach, many lakes that lie in the heart of nature are still unknown to humans.
Furthermore, scientists say, global warming is triggering rapid melting of glaciers which, in turn, is leading to formation of new glacial and non-glacial lakes across the Himalayan region.
Meanwhile, yak herders who were scouring remote mountainous regions of Jumla in Karnali Province looking for their missing yaks have recently discovered an Akashe Taal – which means Sky Lake - at Guthichaur Rural Municipality-1.
They discovered the lake at an altitude of 4,700 metres, located one and half days’ walk away from Manisanghu-1.
The Lake is located below Mount Dudh Kundali, a mountain in the Kanjiroba mountain range.
It also has Kalapathar (black rock) below the mountain and is surrounded by green trees.
It’s unclear if it is a glacial lake with a dam of ice and debris or a normal lake.
A team led by Ward Chairperson Arjun Kumar Mahatara recently returned home after observing all the high-altitude lakes in the area.
"Yak shepherds had a hard time reaching the area,” said Mahatara, adding: "They detected the lake while searching for their missing yaks".
According to Sange Gurung, a local, the Sky Lake is known as 'Mhangwa Yunzo' in the Tibetan language. The lake is called Sky Lake because of its identical colour – sky blue.
Gurung added: "It was not easy to reach the lake so its importance remained unexplored.”
A similar incident had happened some seven years ago when shepherds had detected the Hiulsa Lake at an altitude of 4,300 metres and the Dudh Kundali Lake at 4,000 metres.
Mahatara believed that the lake has the potential to attract tourists and develop tourism in the area in the future.
(With inputs from RSS)
