Which is the longest lake in India?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — C, Vembanad. Vembanad Kayal in Kerala stretches about 96 km from the Alappuzha side up to Kochi, running parallel to the coast behind a sand barrier, which makes it the longest lake in India as well as the largest of the Kerala backwaters. It is a brackish lagoon fed by rivers such as the Periyar, Pamba and Achankovil, a Ramsar site since 2002, and the largest lake in Kerala by area.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Chilika in Odisha is India's largest brackish-water coastal lagoon by area, but it is shorter than Vembanad — it is broad rather than long. This is the classic 'largest versus longest' swap.  (b) Kolleru is a large shallow freshwater lake in Andhra Pradesh, lying between the Krishna and Godavari deltas. It is a Ramsar site, but nowhere near Vembanad in length.  (d) Pookode is a small freshwater lake in Wayanad district, Kerala — a tourist spot of a few hectares, included here only as an obvious filler.

Concept: Indian lake questions turn on superlatives that are easy to confuse because each measures something different: length, area, salinity and origin. Vembanad wins on length because of its shape — a narrow ribbon of backwater running along the coast for about 96 km — while Chilika wins on area among coastal lagoons. Vembanad belongs to the kayal system, the chain of brackish backwaters formed where Kerala's rivers are dammed behind coastal sand bars.

State PCS 2026 Q5 — Geography PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2026 Q5 — Geography PYQ with Answer