Lonar, a taluka place in the Buldana district of the Maharashtra state of India, has a very rare natural structure. There is a huge crater which is the only high velocity meteor crater present in the world. It’s life is some 52000 years old. This is created in the basalt rocks of the deccan region and has salty water.
Till you reach the place, you cannot make out you are there. It is very deep and the slopes of the cliff is very less. The diameter of the lake is around 1.8 kms and the depth of the lake is around 1.5 kms. This place is around 100 kms from Aurangabad. The roads are good. There is a resort run my the maharashtra government bang opposite the lake. From the canteen of the resort, one gets a very good view of the lake.
This lake has a very great geological significance. We were expecting that there will be some sort of information desk which will help tourists know more about the place. There was absolutely nothing of this sort. Not many people know about it, there were no other tourists on the day we were there. There were some local boys who say they are guides. They clearly did not have the complete information. They were more aware of the temples and related things which are around the lake and in the village.
To reach the lake, one has to climb down. There are steps which are not in good shape now. The slope is not too much, but still it is better if one is wearing shoes. The lake is very alkaline, and smell is little nauseous once you reach it. We collected some water in the bottle to check its pH level. There are some temples surrounding the lake. Some of the them are very famous with the local people and every year, there is some festival during which lot of people come to this temple. Others are in dilapidated condition. The tree cover is thick around the lake, and we could hear the peacocks and some other birds. There is also some wild life found in the forests here. One can go around the periphery of the lake but it takes time and one should go in the morning for that. We were there for short time so came back after touching the lake.
The studies are being carried out on the different aspects of the crater lake, the different types of life it supports, the types of rocks etc. Inspite of its importance, it is not that well known as it deserves to be.
