Mine country

The Magnificent India series continues with Dhruv Saxena heading to the Aravallis with the Hyundai Tucson for a brief escape from the urban jungle in search of peace and tranquillity

- Dhruv Saxena

We here at Auto Today have a penchant for travelling far and wide to the extremes of our beautiful country to unexplored locations, places steeped in history and places that can satiate our thirst for road tripping. And as much as we enjoy doing that, we’ve also come to the realisation that you don’t necessarily have to log hundreds of kilometres to find such places. The Magnificent India series has taken us to the mountains of Spiti, deep into Orccha’s storied past, to Jaipur for an insight into ancient crafts and more, but this time around we thought we’d look for more of India’s magnificence closer to home.

Panikot Lake, the place in question, is located south of New Delhi nestled in the Aravallis barely an hour’s drive from most parts of the National Capital. According to locals, illegal mining in the region is responsible for the region’s topography. These illegal mining operations that apparently stopped in 1991 led to the creation of a series of lakes that have become the dominant feature of this location. Over the past few years, thanks in part to social media savvy individuals, Panikot Lake and also Death Valley in Faridabad, have become quite popular amongst residents of the national capital region looking to escape the hustle and bustle of big city life and the lake has even made an appearance on the silver screen. Panikot Lake and the general area surrounding it is known for its biodiversity and is a great location for indulging in a spot of bird watching.

GETTING THERE