The water at the 50,000-year-old&nbsp;Lonar Crater Lake in Buldhana district has mysteriously turned reddish-pink over the past week.

The change in colour of water of the lake, having a mean diameter of 1.2 km has left forest officials and scientist puzzled as on normal days, the lake appears stays greenish in colour.

Experts say this is not the first time that the colour change has happened, but this time it is more glaring.

<img alt="Lonar lake" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="aca5207d-efc5-4ce5-8f34-0bdb572e4a00" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%282%29_90.jpg" /> 
Lonar lake: Before versus after

A similar phenomenon was reported from the Talawe wetlands in Navi Mumbai on May 16 as one section of the wetland patch had turned pink.

In the Lonar case, after local residents shared photographs with the Maharashtra forest department, the latter on Wednesday asked the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur to assess why there has been a change in colour.

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“We will be collecting water samples and sending it to NEERI soon. We will know the exact reason within two weeks,” said MS Reddy, additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) and field director, Melghat Tiger Reserve.

Other officials said some local residents had informed the department about a similar change in water colour last year during this period as well. “The colour, however, was not this dense. Although this needs to be verified by scientists, but this is most likely due to algal growth. During late summer season when water levels reduce and there is high salinity, an algal bloom results in such changes in colour,” said Nitin Kakodkar, principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), Maharashtra.

In Talawe’s case, researchers and microbiologists had attributed the change in colour to vigorous growth of algae or bacteria (halobacteria) growing in an extremely high saline environment having beta-Carotene, which gives this type of characteristic colouration to the water.

“The uniqueness of this lake is that it is alkaline as well as saline at the same time, and the water level parameters change as we move from one end to the other making it a complex ecosystem home to large biodiversity,” said Kakodkar.

Located 500km from Mumbai and over 90km from Buldhana city, the oval-shaped Lonar Lake is a part of the 383-hectare Lonar Wildlife Sanctuary declared on June 8, 2000 as part of the Deccan plateau.&nbsp;

The 113-hectare Lonar lake, also known as Lonar Crater, in Buldhana district of Maharashtra, was created by an asteroid collision with earth impact during the Pleistocene Epoch some 50,000 years ago.

The water at the 50,000-year-old Lonar Crater Lake in Buldhana district has mysteriously turned reddish-pink over the past week. The change in colour of water of the lake, having a mean diameter of 1.

The water at the 50,000-year-old Lonar Crater Lake in Buldhana district has mysteriously turned reddish-pink over the past week. The change in colour of water of the lake, having a mean diameter of 1.2 km has left forest officials and scientist puzzled as on normal days, the lake appears stays greenish in colour. Experts say this is not the first time that the colour change has happened, but this time it is more glaring. Lonar lake: Before versus after A similar phenomenon was reported from the Talawe wetlands in Navi Mumbai on May 16 as one section of the wetland patch had turned pink. In the Lonar case, after local residents shared photographs with the Maharashtra forest department, the latter on Wednesday asked the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur to assess why there has been a change in colour. Also see: World's most expensive cities for expats in 2020 revealed -- Mercer’s annual survey “We will be collecting water samples and sending it to NEERI soon. We will know the exact reason within two weeks,” said MS Reddy, additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) and field director, Melghat Tiger Reserve. Other officials said some local residents had informed the department about a similar change in water colour last year during this period as well. “The colour, however, was not this dense. Although this needs to be verified by scientists, but this is most likely due to algal growth. During late summer season when water levels reduce and there is high salinity, an algal bloom results in such changes in colour,” said Nitin Kakodkar, principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), Maharashtra. In Talawe’s case, researchers and microbiologists had attributed the change in colour to vigorous growth of algae or bacteria (halobacteria) growing in an extremely high saline environment having beta-Carotene, which gives this type of characteristic colouration to the water. “The uniqueness of this lake is that it is alkaline as well as saline at the same time, and the water level parameters change as we move from one end to the other making it a complex ecosystem home to large biodiversity,” said Kakodkar. Located 500km from Mumbai and over 90km from Buldhana city, the oval-shaped Lonar Lake is a part of the 383-hectare Lonar Wildlife Sanctuary declared on June 8, 2000 as part of the Deccan plateau. The 113-hectare Lonar lake, also known as Lonar Crater, in Buldhana district of Maharashtra, was created by an asteroid collision with earth impact during the Pleistocene Epoch some 50,000 years ago.

Maharashtra's 50,000-year-old Lonar lake mysteriously turns pink, scientists probe cause

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Maharashtra's 50,000-year-old Lonar lake mysteriously turns pink, scientists probe cause