Mookaneri Lake, also called Kannankurichi Lake, is a lake in

Kannankurichi Kannankurichi is a part of Salem City Municipal Corporation in Salem district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Demographics India census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about th ...

, in the

Salem Taluk Salem taluk is a taluk of Salem district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city i ...

of the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, that covers an area of . It is located to the south of the

Shevaroy Hills The Selvarayan hills, with the anglicised name Shevaroy Hills, are a towering mountain range (1620 m) near the city of Salem, in Tamil Nadu state, southern India. It is one of the major hill stations in Tamil Nadu and in the Eastern Ghats. The loc ...

and is a major body of water in Salem. The lake is fed by rainfall, including the hills surrounding

Yercaud Yercaud is a Hill station in Salem District, in Tamil Nadu, India. History Stone-age implements have been found from the ancient shrine located near Shevaroy Hills (also known as Shevarayan Hills), which is about 5 km from the Yercaud ...

, which flow into the lake via the Puthu Yeri and Kothukaran Odai streams. There are 47 man-made islands in the lake. Each island was created by excavating and piling lakebed clay about 10 feet high, and covers an area of a few thousand square feet. Initially, millet was planted on the islands to arrest erosion and help build a soil layer before saplings of

neem ''Azadirachta indica'', commonly known as neem, nimtree or Indian lilac, is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus '' Azadirachta'', and is native to the Indian subcontinent and most of the countries in Afr ...

banyan A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

, jambul,

peepal ''Ficus religiosa'' or sacred fig is a species of fig native to the Indian subcontinent and Indochina that belongs to Moraceae, the fig or mulberry family. It is also known as the bodhi tree, pippala tree, peepul tree, peepal tree, pipal tree, ...

, and

vetiver ''Chrysopogon zizanioides'', commonly known as vetiver and khus, is a perennial bunchgrass of the family Poaceae. Vetiver is most closely related to '' Sorghum'' but shares many morphological characteristics with other fragrant grasses, such a ...

trees could be planted. The lake islands were populated by nearly 12,000 trees as of 2013. Mookeneri lake islands

Recreation

Bird Watching

Mookaneri Lake is a popular bird watching destination. The floating islands lush growth of trees help in providing shelter for the birds, like a birds’ sanctum, and their food needs are sufficed by waterholes or the lake. The most commonly sighted birds are Egrets and Kingfishers. Over 169 species of birds have been spotted at the lake. The Pink-feathered Flamingos are magnificent to watch. Apart from this,

Garganey The garganey (''Spatula querquedula'') is a small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and across the Palearctic, but is strictly migratory, with the entire population moving to southern Africa, India (in particular Santragachi), Banglades ...

Northern pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its breeding ...

Grey Wagtail The grey wagtail (''Motacilla cinerea'') is a member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae, measuring around 18–19 cm overall length. The species looks somewhat similar to the yellow wagtail but has the yellow on its underside restricted to ...

Common sandpiper The common sandpiper (''Actitis hypoleucos'') is a small Palearctic wader. This bird and its American sister species, the spotted sandpiper (''A. macularia''), make up the genus ''Actitis''. They are parapatric and replace each other geographic ...

Rosy starling The rosy starling (''Pastor roseus'') is a passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae, also known as the rose-coloured starling or rose-coloured pastor. The species was recently placed in its own monotypic genus, ''Pastor'', and split fro ...

Whiskered tern The whiskered tern (''Chlidonias hybrida'') is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''khelidonios'', "swallow-like", from ''khelidon'', "swallow". The specific ''hybridus'' is Latin for ''hybrid''; Peter Simon Palla ...

Baillon's crake Baillon's crake (''Zapornia pusilla''), also known as the marsh crake, is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae. Distribution Their breeding habitat is sedge beds in Europe, mainly in the east, and across the Palearctic. They used to breed i ...

Yellow bittern The yellow bittern (''Ixobrychus sinensis'') is a small bittern. It is of Old World origins, breeding in the northern Indian Subcontinent, east to the Russian Far East, Japan and Indonesia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate ...

Paddyfield warbler The paddyfield warbler (''Acrocephalus agricola'') is a species of marsh warbler (family Acrocephalidae). It was formerly included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage. The Manchurian reed warbler (''A. tangorum'') was (and sometimes still is ...

, Citrine wagtail, Streak-throated swallow,

Brown-headed gull The brown-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus'') is a small gull which breeds in the high plateaus of central Asia from Tajikistan to Ordos in Inner Mongolia. It is migratory, wintering on the coasts and large inland lakes of the India ...

Painted stork The painted stork (''Mycteria leucocephala'') is a large wader in the stork family. It is found in the wetlands of the plains of tropical Asia south of the Himalayas in the Indian Subcontinent and extending into Southeast Asia. Their distinctiv ...

Oriental darter The Oriental darter (''Anhinga melanogaster'') is a water bird of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. It has a long and slender neck with a straight, pointed bill and, like the cormorant, it hunts for fish while its body is submerged in water ...

and

Black-headed gull The black-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus ridibundus'') is a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic including Europe and also in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters further south, but some birds r ...

are the migratory birds sighted in the lake. Bird watchers and naturalists in the city want to obtain sanctuary status for the lake.

Facilities

The park has a children's play area and mini auditorium set up in a natural environment, seating arrangements, flower pants on the bunds and walker's path along the lake. Coracles are available to visit the islands of the lake.

Fishing

The lake is a source of

groundwater recharge Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs ...

for the surrounding areas. The lake has a few varieties of fish, such as

rohu The rohu, rui, ruhi or roho labeo (''Labeo rohita'') is a species of fish of the carp family, found in rivers in South Asia. It is a large omnivore and extensively used in aquaculture. Description The rohu is a large, silver-colored fish o ...

catla Catla (''Labeo catla''), ( bn, কাতলা, translit=kātlā) also known as the major South Asian carp, is an economically important South Asian freshwater fish in the carp family Cyprinidae. It is native to rivers and lakes in northern Indi ...

kendai and kuruvai. Fishing is carried out by local fishermen and enthusiasts. The coracles of the fishermen are a part of the beautiful lake.

Environmental concerns

During

Vinayaka Chaturthi Ganesh Chaturthi (ISO: ), also known as Vinayak Chaturthi (), or Ganeshotsav () is a Hindu festival commemorating the birth of the Hindu god Ganesha. The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's clay idols privately in homes and p ...

every year there is rampant pollution and damage caused to Mookaneri by the immersing of idols. The idols' toxic wastes can persist in water for ten years and spread from one body of water to another, harming rivers and lakes. The impact can endure up to 100 years when combined with other harmful substances. Salem Citizen's Forum, a collective of urban citizens resurrected the lake at an outlay of Rs. 87 Lakh under the public initiative. The Forum began work at Mookaneri in May of 2010 after many pleas to the district administration failed to evoke a response.

Gallery

References

{{reflist Lakes of Tamil Nadu Salem, Tamil Nadu Tourist attractions in Salem district