Kolleru Bird Sanctuary is a

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

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 ...

. It covers 673 square kilometers. It was established in November 1999, under the '' Wildlife Protection Act of 1972''. The sanctuary protects part of the Kolleru Lake wetland, which gained

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...

for International importance in 2002.

Geography

Kolleru Bird Sanctuary is located in the Eluru district of

between the River

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

and River

Godavari The Godavari ( IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakesh ...

deltas spread over 10 to 25 km from Eluru City.

Flora

The main flora of the sanctuary is ''

Phragmites ''Phragmites'' () is a genus of four species of large perennial reed grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Taxonomy The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, maintained by Kew Garden in London ...

karka'', a weed that grows up to 10 feet in height and that offers shelter for some species of

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

. The aquatic vegetation includes species such as '' Nymphaeae nouchali'', '' Nyphoides indicum'', ''

Ottelia alismoides ''Ottelia alismoides'', commonly known as duck lettuce, is a species of aquatic plant native to Asia and northern Australia. References External links * * Flora of Korea Monocots of Australia alismoides {{Monocot-stub ...

'', '' Nechamandra alternifolia'', ''

Limnophila indica Limnophila may refer to: * ''Limnophila'' (fly), a crane fly genus ** ''Limnophila'' (subgenus), a subgenus in the fly taxonomy * ''Limnophila'' (plant), an aquatic plant genus {{Genus disambiguation ...

'', '' Vallisneria spiralis'', '' Blyxa octandra'', '' Ipomoea aquatica'', ''

Scirpus articulatus ''Scirpus'' is a genus of grass-like species in the sedge family Cyperaceae many with the common names club-rush, wood club-rush or bulrush (see also bulrush for other plant genera so-named). They mostly inhabit wetlands and damp locations. Taxo ...

'', ''

Paspalidium germinatum ''Paspalidium'' (watercrown grass) is a genus of tropical and subtropical plants in the grass family. ''Paspalidium'' includes about 40 species native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas.Allen, C. M'' ...

'', ''

Typha angustata ''Typha domingensis'', known commonly as southern cattail or cumbungi, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus '' Typha''. Distribution and habitat It is found throughout temperate and tropical regions worldwide. It is sometimes found as a ...

'', and '' Phragmites karka''.

Contour dispute

Contours Contour may refer to: * Contour (linguistics), a phonetic sound * Pitch contour * Contour (camera system), a 3D digital camera system * Contour, the KDE Plasma 4 interface for tablet devices * Contour line, a curve along which the function has a ...

are lines drawn on a map, joining points of equal height above the sea level (

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...

). In the past, the water level in the lake was between contour 7 and 10 during the monsoon, and it fell to contour 3 during the dry season. The area in contour 3 is 135 square kilometres and the area in contour 10 is 901 square kilometres. These conditions do not prevail any more with fish tanks and roads occupying most of the lake. The local fishing community known as

Suryavansha The Solar dynasty (IAST: Suryavaṃśa or Ravivaṃśa in Sanskrit) or the Ikshvaku dynasty was founded by the legendary king Ikshvaku.Geography of Rigvedic India, M.L. Bhargava, Lucknow 1964, pp. 15-18, 46-49, 92-98, 100-/1, 136 The dynasty is ...

Vaddi Vaddera (alternatively Vadde, Waddera, Vadar) is a caste in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and some other states in India. The Vaddera have traditionally been stone cutters but many have had to change to agricultural labouring. The eff ...

s say that from the times of 13th century during

Eastern Ganga Dynasty The Eastern Ganga dynasty also known as Purba Gangas, Rudhi Gangas or Prachya Gangas were a large medieval era Indian royal dynasty that reigned from Kalinga from as early as the 5th century to the mid 20th century. Eastern Gangas ruled much of ...

rule they have had descendant rights on Kolleru Lake; they have appealed to the government to decrease from +5 contour (308 km²) to +3 contour (135 km²), asserting that they were protectors of birds from Langula Gajapathi Raju period.The imperial gazetteer of India, Volume 8
by Sir William Wilson Hunter

References

External links

Kolleru Water Lake Tourism SiteCommittee makes secret visit to KolleruAp seeks changes in contours of kolleru wild life sanctuary
{{Protected areas of Andhra Pradesh Bird sanctuaries of Andhra Pradesh Protected areas established in 1999 1999 establishments in Andhra Pradesh

Geography

Flora

Contour dispute

See also

References

External links