A group of trekkers has claimed that they have discovered a virgin lake in the Himalayas in Uttrakhand after spotting it on Google Earth.
They came across an unexplored lake in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand in July 2021 while exploring trekking locations on Google Earth.
"It was in July 2021 when one of our group members, Vinay Negi, on a different trek route, spotted a random image of a lake over Nandikund on Google Earth," Abhishek Panwar, one of the six trekkers who made the discovery told The Times of India.
After some research, they were convinced that the waterbody they came across is not known to the outside world and decided to explore it.
"We spoke to old-time trekkers who know the upper reaches of Rudraprayag district well. However, they were also unaware of any such lake near Nandikund," Negi told The Times of India, adding that "in order to be sure, we checked old satellite maps of 1986 and 1992, and found traces of the lake on those maps as well".
According to Panwar, Negi then made a "digital route" from Madhmaheshwar to the lake, about 60 km in distance, involving almost a week's travel.
After months of research on August 27, the six friends - Abhisekh, Aakash, Vinay, Lalit Mohan, Arvind, and Deepak set out in search of the lake.
On September 1, the team reached the spot where they had located the virgin lake on the map.
According to them, the lake is about 160m in length and 155m wide with turquoise, crystal-clear water at an altitude of 16,500 feet.
They said that on the trekking route, they also came across other lakes including Kasni Tal, Asit Tal, Sunder Tal, Naina Tal and Sujal Sarowar that were discovered in the past.
"Reaching the pristine lake summit and observing it physically was one of the most magical moments of my life," Panwar said.
The young trekkers are now exploring the tourism potential of their discovery.
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