Raja Talab, Jharia

Raja Talab is a man-made lake in Jharia, dug in 1912–13 by Raja Durga Prasad Singh of Jharia. Raja Shiva Prasad Singh, who succeeded him on his death in 1916, added embankments and improved its setting. During the Rajbari Durga Puja, the rajas bathed in the lake before going into the nearby royal Durga temple.

The lake covers 8.46 acres, is about 100 metres across and has a small island in the middle. In the days of Jharia Raj its water was clean enough to drink, but decades of rubbish, sewage, washing and idol immersion left it stagnant; a 2007 study by ISM Dhanbad found the water alkaline, with dissolved ions above WHO limits. A local campaign in 2013–14, joined by members of the old royal family, led the authorities to fund desilting and rehabilitation with help from Bharat Coking Coal, and the lake is being restored.