India's 13th national lake surrounding a heritage palace has turned to the 13th President for protection. This follows thirteen meetings between Tripura Tourism officials and 600 farmers who have since 1960 eaten up 1465.86 acres of the 2071.78 acre (800ha) lake.
Neermahal translates into Water Palace. Sited in the middle of Rudrasagar Lake 53km south of Tripura capital Agartala, it is the only lake palace of its scale after Jagniwas Palace in Pichola Lake at Udaipur, Rajasthan.
But while Jagniwas Palace prospered as an upscale hotel, Neermahal fell into disuse six years after Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya made it his summer residence in 1938.
Post-Partition in 1947, settlers raided and peeled off the palace's furnishings. The lake around suffered more as fishermen took to farming and began stretching their farmlands into the lake.