Talk:Suraj Tal

A fact from Suraj Tal appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 19 November 2008, and was viewed approximately 4,329 times (disclaimer) (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Suraj Tal (pictured), the highest lake in India, may be reached by National Highway NH-21, the highest mountain road in the world?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2008/November.

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Legend section?[edit]

I'm not sure how the Legend section is relevant in this article...it seems to be more about Bara-lacha-la than about the lake. Can you clarify this for me? Thanks, —Politizer ^talk/_contribs 20:26, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The Access section also needs attention; I made a note about this at the DYK nominations page as well. —Politizer ^talk/_contribs 14:44, 15 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Suraj Tal is the source of the Bhaga river and can be approached only if the valley can be accessed through the National Highway from Mnalai via Rothnag pass. The legend part is relevant since it relates to the Bhaga river which originates from the lake and flows through a narrow gorge.--Nvvchar (talk) 15:00, 15 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Text of Access reduced--Nvvchar (talk) 11:45, 16 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I moved the Legend section to Bara-lacha-la. —Politizer ^talk/_contribs 19:58, 16 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Terrain section[edit]

There are some bits here that confuse me and need to be cleaned up. Specifically, the first paragraph:

The lake is fed from the Bara-lacha-la pass, which is 8 km (5.0 mi) long and is also called the "Pass with crossroads on summit" since roads from Zanskar, Ladakh, Spiti and Lahaul meet at this pass.[citation needed] In addition to the Bhaga River which originates from the Lake, Bara-lacha-la Pass is also the source of Chandra River and Yunan River in the north-west and north respectively.[3]

How can a pass be a "source" of the lake; a source should be a body of water, a spring, etc. Do you mean to say that the source of the river is in the pass? Then it should read "the lake is fed from springs in the Bara-lacha-la pass..." The second sentence should probably be moved to Bara-lacha-la. —Politizer ^talk/_contribs 19:58, 16 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the excellent modifications made in the text and shifting Legend part to Bara-lacha-la. I have verified the references and the clarifications are as under.

1. Page 11 to 13 of reference 3 provides the text to confirm that:

a) The NH-21, which connects Manali to Leh, is a lifeline for the people living in this difficult terrain and also for the armed forces deployed in this inhospitable region tosecure the nation’s borders.

b) This mountain mass contains most of the glaciers, torrential nullahs with intervening valleys and high mountain peaks which rise over 6400 m above sea-level. This region has the distinction of having the Baralacha Pass, which is nearly 8 km long, known also as ‘Pass with crossroads on summit’ where roads from Zanskar, Ladakh, Spiti and Lahaul meet. It also gives rise to the three important rivers of the region-Chandra, Bhaga and Yunan-in the south-east, north-west and north respectively.

2) Reference 1 gives the list of high lakes of the world where Suraj Tal is listed under item 21.

3) In Reference 4 on page 130 (the fourth and fifth lines) it is stated: “This is the highest mountain road in the world and is fit for vehicular traffic during the summer season.”

I have cited the reference in the text and made slight change in the text to say that the Glaciers and streams feed the lake.In my web search, I have not come across any reference to springs as a source.

I visited this valley in May/June this year but could not reach the lake since the road was unapproachable due to snow and avalanches. --Nvvchar (talk) 07:53, 17 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Excellent. Could you add those page numbers and item numbers to all the refs? —Politizer ^talk/_contribs 15:33, 17 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also, do you have a source saying that Suraj Tal is only accessible by NH 21? If not, I'll have to change the hook I suggested. —Politizer ^talk/_contribs 15:37, 17 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I know for a fact that NH 21 is the only accessible road to Suraj Tal. But specific reference could not be found even after extensive web search. Hence, the word Only may have to be dropped, if you are very particular about citing a reference. I am fixing the page numbers in the references.--Nvvchar (talk) 16:52, 17 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Some of the farenhight (SP?) and centigrade temperatures given here don't agree. At a guess, the centigrade ones are correct and someone has converted to farenhight, not noticing that some of the centigrades are negative (ie, below freezing). But really someone has to go back to the sources before this can be fixed definitively. 198.142.42.58 (talk) 11:18, 19 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]