Kolleru Lake - Current State of The Lake

Current State of The Lake

Kolleru lake is suffering from the unsatisfied greed of people and selfish interests of mankind who is exploiting the lake’s integrity. Thousands of fish tanks were dug up effectively converting the lake into a mere drain. This had a lot of impact in terms of pollution leading to even difficulty in getting drinking water for the local people. This is besides the loss of ecological diversity and intrusion of sea water into the land masses and its fallout in terms of adverse influence of rainfall pattern in this region. This imbalance has an adverse effect on the thousands of acres of crop in the upper reaches of sanctuary in view of stoppages of water flow into the sea because of obstruction by bunds of the fish tanks that appeared illegally.

Satellite images taken on February 9, 2001 by the Indian remote sensing satellite found that approximately 42% of the 245 km² lake was occupied by aquaculture, while agriculture had encroached another 8.5%. The area under aquaculture consisted of 1050 fish ponds within the lake and 38 dried-up fish ponds, which together covered an area of 103 km². The agricultural encroachments were mostly rice paddies. Surprisingly no clear water could be found in the satellite image. The rest of the lake is being diminished by water diversions or was infested with weeds like elephant grass and water hyacinth.

Rich in flora and fauna, it attracts migratory birds from northern Asia and Eastern Europe between the months of October and March. During this season, the lake is visited by an estimated 20,00,000 birds. The resident birds include Grey pelicans, Asian Open-billed Storks (Anastomus oscitans), Painted Storks (Mycteria leucocephala), Glossy Ibises, White Ibises, Teals, Pintails, Shovellers. The migratory birds include Red-Crested Pochards, Blackwinged Stilts, Avocets, Common Red shanks, Wigeons, Gadwalls and Cormorants, Garganys, Herons, Flamingos & among others. See the Pictures of Birds at Lake Kolleru at .

Kolleru lake contains numerous fertile islets called lanka's,many of the small ones are submerged during floods. The origin of unusual depression which forms the bed of the lake is unknown, but it was possibly the results of an earthquake. Therefore many ancient villages are precepted in the bed of the lake as a result of floods and earthquake.

Read more about this topic:  Kolleru Lake

Famous quotes containing the words current, state and/or lake:

    I perceived that to express those impressions, to write that essential book, which is the only true one, a great writer does not, in the current meaning of the word, invent it, but, since it exists already in each one of us, interprets it. The duty and the task of a writer are those of an interpreter.
    Marcel Proust (1871–1922)

    Hast ever ben in Omaha
    Where rolls the dark Missouri down,
    Where four strong horses scarce can draw
    An empty wagon through the town?
    Where sand is blown from every mound
    To fill your eyes and ears and throat;
    Where all the steamboats are aground,
    And all the houses are afloat?...
    If not, take heed to what I say,
    You’ll find it just as I have found it;
    And if it lies upon your way
    For God’s sake, reader, go around it!
    —For the State of Nebraska, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    Lenin on a bench beside a lake disturbed
    The swans. He was not the man for swans.
    Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)