Ousteri Lake (French: Lac Oustéri) is a lake in the union territory of
Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to:
* Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India
** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry
** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry
** Puducherry tal ...
, state of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
. This lake is also called as Ossudu Lake as it is located in the village named Ossudu.
The lake extends to about 800 hectares in which 390 hectares lies in Puducherry and the rest in Tamil Nadu. It is the largest lake of Puducherry.
Bird sanctuary
Ousteri Lake is a man-made lake, which is considered as one of the important wetlands in Asia. Different species of
migratory birds
Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by ...
reside in this lake throughout the year, for which the lake gains significance from the IBA (
Important Bird Areas
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...
).
[Islam, M.Z. & A.R. Rahmani (2004). Important Bird Areas in India: Priority sites for conservation. Indian Bird Conservation Network: Bombay Natural History Society and Birdlife International (UK).Pp.xviii+1133] In 2008 Ousteri
wetlands
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
in Puducherry was declared as a bird sanctuary,
while the wetlands in Tamil Nadu was declared in 2015.
Tourism
The lake is one of the prominent tourist spot in Puducherry. The Puducherry Tourism Department Corporation has made a small boat club in the lake for tourists. The Puducherry government is proposing to make Ousteri as a National park. It also has proposed to set up telescopes to watch the birds and make the region as an eco tourism destination.
References
{{Hydrography of Puducherry
Lakes of Puducherry