Why Maharashtra's Lonar Lake turns pink?

Lonar Crater Lake is an ancient circular lake created by a meteorite strike in Maharashtra. It was identified as a unique geographical site by a British officer named CJE Alexander in 1823. It became a Geo - Heritage site in 1979. It is relatively young geologically, at just 50,000 years old.

Reasons behind Pink colour of Lonar Lake

• It was mainly due to salt-loving bacteria (Red colour archeal strains classified as haloarchea). It was associated with High salinity and high alkalinity i.e; PH.
• Absence of rain, Non-interference of Human and high temp. resulted in an increase in PH level.
• However, the Pink colour of the lake is not permanent, according to Agharkar Research Institute, Pune: Once the biomass of the microbes settled at the bottom, the water became transparent these are some of the findings during one such experiment at the labs.

Source: The Hindu