Umiam Lake

Umïam Lake, also known as Bara Pani, is a reservoir in the hills 15 km (9.3 mi) north of Shillong in the state of Meghalaya, India. It was created by damming the Umïam River in the early 1960s. The principal catchment area of the lake and dam is spread over 225 square kilometres (87 sq mi). In February 2025, the Guwahati - Panchgram Expressway was announced. It will be the first expressway of Northeast India is a greenfield expressway from Guwahati to Umiam in Meghalaya and then direct to old paper mill in Panchgram, which will reduce the Guwahati to Punchgram distance by 5 hours. == Geography == Two rivers, namely, Wah Umkhrah and Wah Umshyrpi, feed into the Umiam lake. == History == === Umïam dam === Umïam Dam, which impounds the lake, was built by the Assam State Electricity Board in the early 1960s. The dam's original purpose was to store water for hydroelectric power generation. The Umïam Stage I powerhouse, north of the lake, has four 9-MW turbine-generators, which entered commercial operation in 1965. Umïam Stage I was the first reservoir-storage hydroelectric project commissioned in the northeastern region of India.