Ikop Pat

Ikop Pat is a lake in Manipur lying on the western side of Athokpam and Khangabok, roughly 32 km south-east of Imphal, at 772 m above sea level. In the rains it stretches to about 7.5 km long and 1.8 km wide, covering some 13.5 sq km, yet it is very shallow, between about one and one and a half metres deep, and its saucer-shaped bed is heavily silted.

The lake has a place in the tale of Khamba and Thoibi, the legendary lovers of Moirang: it is said to be where Khamba caught a wild bull. Today Ikop Pat is under heavy pressure. Farms built by fishing co-operative societies encroach on it, and tests show badly polluted water, acidic in some parts and strongly alkaline in others, with little dissolved oxygen.