Ameenpur is a small

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Sangareddy District Sangareddy district, is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. This district contains a part of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Region. The district shares boundaries with Medak, Medchal, Vikarabad, Kamareddy and Rangareddy districts and with ...

in the Indian state of Telangana and on the edge of the city of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

. It is the first

body of water A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such a ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to be recognized as a Biodiversity Heritage Site and is the first

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

site to be approved in an urban area.

Description

Ameenpur Lake is on the northwestern fringes of Hyderabad and is a man-made lake that was reportedly constructed more than 300 years ago during the reign of

Ibrahim Qutb Shah Ibrahim Qutb Shah Wali (1518 – 5 June 1580), also known by his Telugu names Malki BhaRama and Ibharama Cakravarti, was the fourth ruler of the kingdom of Golconda in southern India. He was the first of the Qutb Shahi dynasty to use th ...

(1550–1580 AD) by a courtier, Abdul Qadir Amin Khan of

Patancheru Patancheru is located in the north western end of Hyderabad. It is an industrial zone located about 32 km from the city centre on the Hyderabad-Solapur highway, and around 18 km from HITEC City. Earlier, it was the headquarters of Bi ...

, to irrigate his gardens. The garden no longer exists, but the lake has survived. The lake is surrounded by undulating terrain with rocky outcrops and rocky formations which lie in the midst of an urban sprawl, surrounded by factories, villages, and modern apartments. Ameenpur once occupied an area of more than but, due to encroachment, the lake currently covers an area of .

Wildlife

Various resident and migratory birds, such as flamingos, egrets, herons, cormorants, kingfishers, and river terns, visit the lake. Ameenpur Lake is a major spot for birdwatchers in Hyderabad. In 2017 it was reported that the lake was home to 8 species of mammals, 166 birds, 45 herpetofauna (12 amphibians and 34 reptiles), 9 species of fish, and 143 invertebrates (26 aquatic beetles, 41 butterflies, 18 odonates, 25 arachnids, and 33 other invertebrates).

Gallery

File:Get set go flamingo.jpg, Flamingos at Ameenpur File:Cormorant and Black-winged stilts.jpg, Black-winged stilts and a Cormorant at Ameenpur lake File:Grey Heron, Ameenpur Lake, India.jpg, Grey Heron waiting for sunrise at Ameenpur lake File:Spot Billed Pelican at Ameenpur lake.jpg, Spot Billed Pelican File:Greater Flamingos at Ameenpur lake.jpg, Greater Flamingos File:Pied Kingfisher at Ameenpur lake.jpg, Pied Kingfisher File:Black-tailed godwit at Ameenpur lake.jpg, Black-tailed godwit File:Wood Sandpiper, Ameenpur Lake, India.jpg, Stilt Sandpiper File:Indian Pond Heron, Ameenpur Lake, India.jpg, Striated heron having a quick meal File:Painted Storks, Ameenpur Lake, India.jpg, Wood storks

Biodiversity site

Ameenpur was declared as a Biodiversity Heritage Site in November 2016 by the Ministry of Environment under the Biological Diversity Act 2002 because of the large number of migratory birds that thrive there.

Tourism

Ameenpur is ranked by TripAdvisor as 143rd of 242 things to do in Hyderabad.''Ameenpur Lake''
at www.tripadvisor.co.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2018

References

{{Commons category, Ameenpur Lake Heritage structures in Hyderabad, India Lakes of Hyderabad, India Biodiversity Heritage Sites of India