Dhamapur Lake

Dhamapur Lake in Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra, was formed in 1530 when villagers, with Nagesh Desai, a Mandlik of the Vijayanagara dynasty, closed off a valley with an earthen bank. It is counted among the biggest lakes in the district, covering about 55 acres with a greatest depth of around 37 feet, and stays full through the year without silting up, even though the dam leaks considerably. Its water irrigates about 500 acres of rice land and gardens and is also used for drinking and fishing.

The moist deciduous forest around the lake is a reserve forest of the Sawantwadi division, and the Dhamapur forest was sown by Kanhoji Angre around 1680. A plant walk in 2017 recorded rare and endangered species here, and Chlorophytum glaucoides, classed as vulnerable, grows on the banks. Studies have also found a varied mix of plankton in the water.