Umiam Lake — the reservoir on the Guwahati road
What it is
Umiam Lake, also called Bara Pani, fills a valley in the hills north of Shillong, on the road to Guwahati. Wikipedia says a dam across the Umiam river, built in the early 1960s, formed it, and that two rivers, the Wah Umkhrah and the Wah Umshyrpi, feed it.
Photos: ANKAN (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Gargi Gore (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
How it was made
The Assam State Electricity Board built the dam to store water for power. The Stage I powerhouse north of the lake began commercial operation in 1965 with four 9 MW generators, the first reservoir-storage hydroelectric project in the north-east; three more stages were built downstream. Before the dam Khasi families farmed the valley, and the villages of Khwan and Umsaw were flooded, about two hundred families being displaced.
Today
The lake is a leisure spot with kayaking, water cycling, scooting and boating, by Wikipedia's list. It is also polluted by the sewage and waste carried down from the town, and silt enters at an estimated 40,000 cubic metres a year. We have no verified operators or prices.
Getting there
By road on the Guwahati highway about 15 km north of Shillong, by Wikipedia's figure; our measured road time is in the quick facts.
Combine it with
The Umiam and Mawphlang day pairs the lake with the Mawphlang sacred grove. Read how to reach Shillong and things to do in Shillong.
Plans that include this
All 2 plans that stop here →
Nearby places
All of Shillong →
Nearby destinations
All destinations →
Questions people ask
What is Umiam Lake?
A reservoir about 15 km north of Shillong, also called Bara Pani, formed when a dam was built across the Umiam river in the early 1960s. Wikipedia says that the Umiam Stage I powerhouse, with four 9 MW generators, began commercial operation in 1965 as the first reservoir-storage hydroelectric project in the north-east.
Can you go on the water at Umiam Lake?
Wikipedia says the lake is a major tourist attraction and a popular place for water sports, listing kayaking, water cycling, scooting and boating. We have no verified operators, prices or opening hours, so ask on arrival, and check the water and weather before you go out on it.
Who lived where the lake is now?
Wikipedia says Khasi communities lived in the Umiam valley before the dam, and that the plan of 1958 meant flooding the villages of Khwan and Umsaw, about two hundred families, who first opposed it. The lake also faces pollution and silting, with an estimated 40,000 cubic metres of silt entering each year.