It’s official, Tso Lhamu is the highest lake in India

GANGTOK, 10 July: Tso-Lhamu Lake which stands over 18,000 feet above sea level in North Sikkim has been awarded the title of the highest lake in the country following a survey conducted by Government of India recently.
According to the Wetland Atlas prepared by the GoI, Tso-Lhamu is the highest lake in the country and the sixth highest in the world.
Tourism Minister, Bhim Dhungel announced yesterday that the recognition for Tso-Lhamu as the highest was an additional USP for the tourism industry here as many travelers from around the world will now be interested to visit this destination which lies about 6 kms ahead of the more visited Gurudongmar lake in the cold desert of North Sikkim.

The Minister further stated that this branding will make the Sikkim experience even more attractive for visitors since marketing the destination will now be easy.
Mr. Dhungel went on to add that the Tourism Department has initiated a survey of tourism stakeholders in the State under the 100-days programme of the state government.
The Minister revealed that the survey has found out that there are 279 hotels in east Sikkim, 60 hotels in West Sikkim, 102 hotels in North Sikkim and another 39 hotels in South Sikkim. Of the 480 hotels all over the State, only 202 were registered with the Department, he said.
He further informed that there were a total of 213 restaurants in East Sikkim, 16 in West Sikkim, 8 in North Sikkim and 35 in South Sikkim. Of the 272 restaurants in the state, only 18 are registered with the Department of Tourism.
Similarly, the minister also highlighted that there were a total of 301 travel agents in the East district, 15 in West, and 12 in South.  Out of the total 328 travel agents, 302 were registered with the department.
The survey conducted by the department had also shown that the state had a carrying capacity of 11,335 beds per night with the maximum number being in East Sikkim which had 7,649 beds to offer to the tourists. Similarly, West Sikkim had a carrying capacity of 1,275 beds, while North and South Sikkim had 1,802 and 609 beds respectively.
“The main objective of the survey was to find the total number of hotels, guest houses and travel agents operating in the State and the total number of employment generated by these establishments. This will prove to be very helpful in monitoring the hospitality sector,” said Mr. Dhungel.
The minister also informed that the door to door survey was conducted under the Sikkim Registration of Tourist & Civil Aviation department which was carried out in the months of May and June, earlier this year.
“What we have found out from the survey is that 80 percent of the hotels are leased out and another 80 percent of these hotels were staffed by outsiders and non-locals. Even the restaurants have 80 percent of non-local employment which is something which we have to seriously look into,” explained the Tourism Minister.
Lastly, he mentioned that only the travel agents in the state had employed 100 percent locals into the industry.