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A century-old irrigation reservoir near Ahmedabad in Gujarat that is now a bird sanctuary and a Ramsar site on the Central Asian Flyway.
Thol Lake is a freshwater wetland near Thol village in Kadi taluka of Mehsana district, Gujarat, about 25 kilometres from Ahmedabad. It is not a natural lake: it was constructed in 1912 under the Gaekwad rulers of Baroda as an irrigation tank, and it still serves that purpose while having become one of western India's most important bird habitats. It was declared a bird sanctuary in 1988 and designated a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention on 5 April 2021 as Ramsar site no. 2458. The wetland lies on the Central Asian Flyway, the migratory route linking breeding grounds in Siberia and Central Asia with wintering grounds in South Asia, and supports more than 320 bird species.
Type: PhenomenonAn artificial wetland — built in 1912 during the Gaekwad regime as an irrigation reservoir for surrounding farmland, and still in irrigation use
Water spread of about 699 hectares with a storage capacity of roughly 84 million cubic metres
Declared a bird sanctuary in 1988 under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
Ramsar site since 5 April 2021 (site no. 2458), one of four Gujarat wetlands added to the Ramsar list in 2021 along with Wadhvana and Khijadiya
Sits on the Central Asian Flyway — a key stopover and wintering site for migratory waterbirds
Over 320 bird species recorded, including the greater flamingo, sarus crane, great white pelican, mallard, geese and a wide range of waders
Around 112 of the roughly 257 waterbird species recorded in India have been reported from this single wetland
Shallow water with marshy fringes and surrounding agricultural fields — the combination that makes it attractive to both waders and grazing waterfowl
Frequency: Moderate to high — Ramsar sites appear in UPSC Prelims almost every year, and the 2021 batch of new Indian sites is still recent enough to be actively examined
Gujarat / Mehsana (Kadi taluka)
About 25 km
1912, under the Gaekwad regime, as an irrigation tank
About 699 hectares
About 84 million cubic metres
1988
5 April 2021
2458
More than 320
About 112 of India's roughly 257 waterbird species
Central Asian Flyway
The Central Asian Flyway covers a vast area between the Arctic and Indian Oceans, linking breeding grounds across Siberia and Central Asia with wintering grounds in South Asia, and it passes over the whole of India. India hosts the largest share of the flyway's wintering waterbirds and adopted a National Action Plan for the conservation of migratory birds along it, which is the policy framework that gives sites like Thol their national importance. Under the Ramsar Convention, adopted at Ramsar, Iran in 1971 and in force since 1975, a site is listed if it meets any of nine criteria — Thol qualifies on its waterbird numbers and diversity rather than on any rarity of landscape. That a hundred-year-old irrigation tank can hold roughly 43 per cent of India's waterbird species is the broader point the Convention makes: human-made wetlands, when managed for water rather than drained, become ecological infrastructure.
Thol is the clearest Indian demonstration that conservation value and artificiality are not opposites. A reservoir dug for farmers in 1912 now carries a substantial fraction of the country's wintering waterbirds, which makes it a case study in how irrigation infrastructure can be managed as habitat — water levels held through the winter, fringes left marshy, surrounding fields functioning as feeding grounds. It also illustrates the tension that comes with that: the wetland's primary legal purpose is irrigation, so its water level is set by agricultural demand rather than by bird ecology, and a drawdown in a dry year affects the habitat directly. The surrounding land is intensively farmed, which brings fertiliser and pesticide runoff, and proximity to Ahmedabad brings both tourist pressure and urban expansion. Ramsar listing does not override the reservoir's irrigation function; what it does is put the ecological character of the site on record and commit the state to maintaining it, which is the leverage conservation managers actually have here.
Thol Lake — Mehsana district (Kadi taluka), Gujarat, about 25 km from Ahmedabad
MAN-MADE: built 1912 under the Gaekwads as an irrigation tank
Bird sanctuary 1988; Ramsar site 5 April 2021, site no. 2458
Water spread about 699 hectares; storage about 84 million cubic metres
On the Central Asian Flyway; 320+ bird species; about 112 waterbird species
Key birds: greater flamingo, sarus crane, great white pelican, mallard, geese, waders
Gujarat's Ramsar sites: Nalsarovar, Thol, Wadhvana, Khijadiya and Chhari-Dhand (2026)
Other man-made Ramsar sites in India: Wadhvana, Pong Dam Lake, Bhindawas, Sultanpur
Near Thol village in Kadi taluka of Mehsana district, Gujarat, roughly 25 kilometres from Ahmedabad.
Man-made. It was constructed in 1912 under the Gaekwad rulers as an irrigation reservoir and still serves that purpose, which makes it one of India's artificial Ramsar sites.
On 5 April 2021, as Ramsar site no. 2458. It had already been declared a bird sanctuary in 1988.
More than 320 species, including the greater flamingo, sarus crane, great white pelican, mallard, geese and many waders. About 112 of India's roughly 257 waterbird species have been recorded there.
One of the world's major migratory bird routes, linking breeding grounds in Siberia and Central Asia with wintering grounds in South Asia. It passes over all of India, and Thol is one of its important wintering wetlands.