Kaptai lake

There are many natural and manmade lake on the world.kaptai lake is the one of the biggest manmade lake on the world.But the nature making its beauty like heaven.Any visitor once come here falls in love with its miracle beauty.If you don’t visit Rangamati you will not discover a big portion of natural beauties of Bangladesh. From Chittagong a 77 km. road amidst green fields and winding hills will take you to Rangamati. It is also connected by waterway from Kaptai. This is the only place to visit through out the year. Rangamati expresses her full beauty in rainy season. Trees becoming greener, waterfalls are in full tide, the river Karnaphuli in her full wave in this season. If you already visited Rangamati in winter, we advice to go there again in monsoon; you will feel the difference of nature yourself.

Kaptai Lake is located in south-eastern Bangladesh or in the Kaptai sub district of Rangamati of Chittagong Division. The lake was created as a result of building the Kaptai dam, on the Karnafuli River, as part of the Karnaphuli Hydro-electric project. The Kaptai Lake's average depth is 100 feet (30 m) and maximum depth is 495 feet (151 m).

Construction of the reservoir for the hydro-electric plant began in 1956. As a result, 54,000 acres (220 km2) of farmland in the Rangamati District went under water and created the lake.
This hydro-electric project was funded by the United States. The project was finished in 1962. International Engineering Company and Utah International Inc. received the contract for construction of the dam. The dam is 670.6 meters long, and 54.7 meters high. The dam has a 745 feet (227 m) long spillway containing 16 gates. Through the spillway 5,25,000 cusec of water can pass every second.

The lake has become an important resource for some other considerations. It has created a diversified and long waterway. Many places that used to take a day or even more to reach have now become an hour's trip by speedboat or launch. It has become much easier to exploit forest resources that had earlier been inaccessible. The whole lake is now a great tourist attraction. The lake's contribution to the development of agriculture and fishery is significant. Since the water level of the lake is maintained at different heights in different months of the year, the lakeshores are under an automatic irrigation system and are very fertile. People practice controlled farming in about 6,075 ha of land on leasehold basis through agreements with the local government.

chakma village

The estimated life of the lake is 90 years, at the end of which its bed is expected to be fully covered by silt. Meanwhile, the lake continues to serve as a valuable reservoir for hatchery and fish production as well. Fish produced in the lake meets local demand and is also supplied to Dhaka and other parts of the country. The average annual production of fish is more than 7,000 tons. However, turbidity is high during the monsoon, which inhibits plankton production. The runoff carries a high nutrient load, and as the water clears, production intensifies. Blue-green and green algae, and diatoms dominate the phytoplankton community, which are important food for clupeids and carps. The zooplankton population is dominated by the rotifers. Crops of other zooplankters are very low, a characteristic of most tropical waters.

Its important morphometric and hydrographic features are as follows: surface elevation 31.1m, surface area 58,300 ha, volume 524,700 cu m, total annual discharge 1,707,000 cu m, storage ratio 0.31, mean depth 9m, maximum depth 32m, outlet depth 15.5m, mean annual water level fluctuation 8.14m, growing season 365 days, total dissolved solids 76 ppm and specific conductance 144 µmhos at 25ºC.

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