How dry is Upper Lake? You have to take boat ride first for a cruise

  • | Sunday | 24th March, 2019

By Abdulmoeed FaruquiBHOPAL: The depleting water level in the Upper Lake has robbed the fun of tourists to prefer to take a cruise ride. Upper Lake or Bada Talab is the largest manmade lake in the country, whose water is still good enough for drinking water. Taking into consideration the importance of the international event, speed boats have also been pulled out of active operation, he added.Sources said that cruise boat capacity has been reduced owing to the falling water level of the Upper Lake. The cruise boat needs a depth of about 7-feet water to sail ,” he said.Tourism representatives are tight-lipped at the situation with the water level in the lake just three feet short of the dead-storage level. The cruise does not operate during the afternoon and it is only around sunset that cruise boat starts operating in the Upper Lake.Over the weekend, the tourism department expects a dent in revenue owing to the situation.

By Abdulmoeed FaruquiBHOPAL: The depleting water level in the Upper Lake has robbed the fun of tourists to prefer to take a cruise ride. Now, the tourists are forced to take a boat. The ongoing international kayaking and canoeing championship has added to the agony of tourists. Sources said that it is for the first time that in the month of March, the cruise has been unable to operate west of the Upper Lake.For a cruise boat ride of 45 minutes, passengers are being asked to board a boat, said an MP Tourism representative on Saturday on the occasion of the three-day kayaking and canoeing championship.“Water level towards the west is very low. The cruise boat needs a depth of about 7-feet water to sail ,” he said.Tourism representatives are tight-lipped at the situation with the water level in the lake just three feet short of the dead-storage level. Water dead storage level of the lake is 1552 feet. Such a situation was witnessed only once earlier in 2006 in the millennia-old lake built by Raja Bhoj. Taking into consideration the importance of the international event, speed boats have also been pulled out of active operation, he added.Sources said that cruise boat capacity has been reduced owing to the falling water level of the Upper Lake. A cruise carries about 80 people at a time. For one full ride, the tourism department is ferrying 20 people at a time on a boat to the cruise which is parked towards the east (near the cable stay bridge).Some of the enthusiasts have opted out of the ride while a few others are happy that they are getting two rides for the price of one. The cruise does not operate during the afternoon and it is only around sunset that cruise boat starts operating in the Upper Lake.Over the weekend, the tourism department expects a dent in revenue owing to the situation. “We have a floating platform on which passengers can walk around 50 meters over the water to board the cruise boat,” he said.Over the years, there has been an increase in the number of fuel-operated boats in the water body. The issue was raised by environmentalists who warned about long term adverse impact on the sustainability of the water body. Upper Lake or Bada Talab is the largest manmade lake in the country, whose water is still good enough for drinking water.

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