Lonar Lake in Maharashtra, that was formed more than 50,000 years ago due to a meteorite strike, has mysteriously turned pink in colour and no one knows why. 

Lonar lake, the world’s third largest crater has turned pink in colour overnight and experts say that it might have happened due to the salinity and presence of algae in the water body.

This lake, located 500 km from Mumbai in Buddha district, is quite a popular tourist destination and it also attracts scientists from all over the world. But, the sudden change in colour of the water has baffled locals, nature enthusiasts and scientists. 

Though, experts say this is not the first time that the colour of the water has changed. However, they also added that this time the change in colour is more evident. 

In an interview with PTI, Gajanan Kharat, member of the Lonar lake conservation and development committee said:

The lake, which is a notified national geo-heritage monument has saline water with a pH of 10.5. There are algae in the water body. The salinity and algae can be responsible for this change. There is no oxygen below one meter of the lake’s water surface.

Kharat also states that the water level is currently low as compared to the past few years and there is no fresh rain to pour fresh water in it. 

And, because of this reason the salinity and the behaviour of algae might have changed due to atmospheric changes, causing the water to turn pink in colour. 

By looking at the scale of the colour change, Dr Madan Suryavanshi, head of the geography department of Aurangabad’s Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University assures that this is a natural phenomena and it has nothing to do with human intervention. He said:

In case of a natural phenomenon, there are fungi which generally give a greenish colour to water most of the times. This (the current colour change) seems to be a biological change in the Lonar crater. 

He also said that the colour of the water also might have changed due to lack of any disturbance to water during the lockdown. The water samples have been sent for testing right now and the results are awaited. 

This gigantic lake was first discovered by JE Alexander in 1823. It is believed that the lake was formed more than 50,000 years ago when a two million-tonne crater impacted the Earth to create a depression.