UPPSC 2021 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 61 of 150

Correct — B, Chilka. Chilika (Chilka) Lake in Odisha is the largest brackish-water coastal lagoon on India's east coast, spread over roughly 1,100 sq km and opening into the Bay of Bengal near Puri. It is Asia's largest brackish-water lagoon and the second-largest coastal lagoon in the world. Fed by rivers and connected to the sea by a narrow mouth, it is a classic bar-built (barrier) lagoon and a famous wintering ground for migratory birds and home to Irrawaddy dolphins. Hence Chilka is the answer.

• (a)Pulicat — Wrong — Pulicat is indeed a brackish-water lagoon on the east coast (straddling Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu), but it is the SECOND-largest such lagoon in India, well behind Chilika. It is the tempting trap, not the largest.
• (c)Kulleru — Wrong — Kolleru (Kulleru) is a large freshwater lake in Andhra Pradesh lying between the Krishna and Godavari deltas; it is not a coastal lagoon at all.
• (d)Kilivali — Wrong — it is not a recognised major east-coast lagoon and is not the largest; the superlative belongs to Chilika.

A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger sea by a barrier such as a sandbar, reef or barrier island. India's east coast has several bar-built brackish lagoons; the largest is Chilika Lake in Odisha, a pear-shaped lagoon (~1,100 sq km) linked to the Bay of Bengal by a narrow outer channel. It is Asia's largest brackish-water lagoon and among the world's largest coastal lagoons.

The trap is Pulicat, which is also a genuine east-coast lagoon — but only the second largest in India. Kolleru is a freshwater lake (not a lagoon), so it can be eliminated on definition. Anchoring on 'Chilika = Odisha = largest brackish lagoon on the east coast' gives the answer directly.

• Chilika Lake (Odisha) is the largest brackish-water coastal lagoon on India's east coast (~1,100 sq km).
• It is Asia's largest brackish-water lagoon and the second-largest coastal lagoon in the world.
• Pulicat Lake (Andhra Pradesh–Tamil Nadu) is India's second-largest coastal lagoon.
• Chilika was among India's first Ramsar Convention wetland sites (designated 1981).

• Confusing Pulicat (2nd largest) with Chilika (largest) on the east coast
• Treating Kolleru, a freshwater lake, as a lagoon

UPPSC & UPSC ask for the 'largest lagoon' or to identify which listed water body is a lagoon — memorise Chilika = largest east-coast lagoon (Odisha); Pulicat = second.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Chilika Lake, the largest coastal lagoon in India, is located in which State?

  • (a)West Bengal
  • (b)Odisha
  • (c)Andhra Pradesh
  • (d)Tamil Nadu

  Answer(b) Odisha — Chilika opens into the Bay of Bengal near Puri and is Asia's largest brackish-water lagoon.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following is the second-largest brackish-water coastal lagoon of India, after Chilika?

  • (a)Vembanad Lake
  • (b)Kolleru Lake
  • (c)Pulicat Lake
  • (d)Sambhar Lake

  Answer(c) Pulicat Lake — an east-coast lagoon straddling Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, next in size to Chilika.