Pulicat Lake
Topic: Drainage System of India: Rivers, Basins and Patterns · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Pulicat Lake is India's second-largest brackish-water lagoon, on the Andhra Pradesh–Tamil Nadu border. A lagoon is a shallow body of coastal water cut off from the sea by a strip of sand. "Brackish" means its water is a mix of fresh river water and salty sea water. At Pulicat, the long barrier island of Sriharikota separates the lagoon from the Bay of Bengal. The lagoon supports fishing villages and many water birds, including flamingos.
Example
Sriharikota, the sandy island between Pulicat Lake and the sea, is home to ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India's main rocket launch site. The lagoon lies north of Chennai.
Don't confuse with
- Chilika Lake: this is India's and Asia's largest brackish-water lagoon, in Odisha at the Mahanadi delta. Pulicat is second largest.
- Kolleru Lake: this is a freshwater lake inland in Andhra Pradesh, between the Godavari and Krishna deltas. It is not a coastal lagoon.