Gobind Sagar Lake is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

situated in Una and Bilaspur districts of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peak ...

, India. It is formed by the

Bhakra Dam Bhakra Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Sutlej River in Bhakra Village near Bilaspur in Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The dam forms the Gobind Sagar reservoir. The dam, located at a gorge near the (now submer ...

. The reservoir is on the river

Sutlej The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the In ...

and is named in honour of

Guru Gobind Singh Guru Gobind Singh (; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), born Gobind Das or Gobind Rai the tenth Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed by Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind ...

, the tenth Sikh guru. One of the world's highest

gravity dams A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation to oppose the horizontal pressure of water pushing against it ...

, the Bhakra dam rises nearly 225.5 m above its lowest foundations. Under the supervision of the American dam-builder,

Harvey Slocum Harvey Slocum (October 23, 1887 – November 11, 1961) was an American civil engineer and dam-building expert, known primarily for his part in the construction of Grand Coulee Dam in the United States and the Bhakra Dam in India.Beas Beas is a riverfront town in the Amritsar district of the Indian state of Punjab. Beas lies on the banks of the Beas River. Beas town is mostly located in revenue boundary of Budha Theh with parts in villages Dholo Nangal and Wazir Bhullar. B ...

was channelized to Gobind Sagar by the Beas-Sutlej link which was accomplished in 1976.

Location and other aspects

The reservoir lies in the Bilaspur District and

Una District Una is a district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Una shares its border with the Hoshiarpur and Rupnagar districts of Punjab and Kangra, Hamirpur and Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh. The terrain is generally plain with semi ...

. Bilaspur is about 91 km away from the

. Its name given by Former Chairman of PSEB SardarJi Harbans Singh Somal, in honor of 10th Guru Gobind Singh Ji. In October and November, when the water level of the reservoir is high, a series of regattas are organised by the ''Tourism and Civil Aviation'' department. Gobind Sagar was declared a water fowl refuge in 1962.

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...

is commonly practiced here. It has about fifty one species and sub species. Bangana dero, Tor putitora,

Sperata seenghala ''Sperata seenghala'', the Giant river-catfish, is a species of bagrid catfish. It is known locally as Guizza, Guizza ayer, Auri, Ari, Pogal, Singhara and Seenghala, among other names. It is found in southern Asia in the countries of Afghanis ...

and Mirror carp are some of the common species found here.

Water Sports

Govind Sagar Lake reservoir in Una and Bilaspur Districts of

with its 56 km length and nearly 3 km breadth. It offers a variety of water-sports activities in close collaboration with the Directorate tourism and Civil Aviation and Directorate of Mountaineering and Allied Sports. Due to seasonal water level fluctuation, watersports are mainly confined to half of the year i.e. August to January. During this period the activities include

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, surfing, water-skiing,

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits facin ...

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically at ...

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other ac ...

, white water

river rafting A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

. Courses are conducted at three levels – beginners, intermediate and advance. For this Tourism Department of

has constructed a huge Water Sports Complex in Luhnu Ground, Bilaspur with all the boarding, lodging and equipment facilities.

River rafting A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

or white water rafting, as it is also called, is swiftly making Bilaspur a focus for this sport. Non swimmers and novices can also have this thrilling experience in an inflatable rubber dinghy, on some of the gentler rapids.

References

External links

Gobing Sagar Lake
{{Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh Lakes of Himachal Pradesh Geography of Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh Reservoirs in India Memorials to Guru Gobind Singh

Location and other aspects

Water Sports

See also

References

External links