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Butterflies of Coimbatore Wetlands – A 5 Years Study
Wetlands of Coimbatore
Coimbatore is blessed with many wetlands dotted along the Noyyal River fed system. There are about 30 plus wetlands. There are also specific numbers of wetlands which are not Noyyal fed. These wetlands have been the lifeline for many centuries for the people of Coimbatore Region.
From the pristine Ukkulam( near Semmedu, Siruvani foothills) to the large Sulur lake, the 45 Km stretch dots many waterbodies. Some of the water bodies like Ukkadam, Perur, Singanallur and Kannampalayam are famous for the birding. Asian Waterfowl Census 2017 conducted on 22 wetlands returned 127 bird species with 7079 bird counts. This indicates that the water bodies are home to both resident and migrant birds.
Except a few wetlands in the upper western originating region, the quality of water in the wet lands are far from satisfactory and will not be part of the scope and description here. Various steps are being taken up on the wetlands like desilting, strengthening the bonds, improving the inlets and outlets, clearing off encroachments, etc. We only like to mention and record the fact that whenever desilting and clearing activities are taken up, they have to be scientifically managed so that the eco system prevailed is not drastically altered leaving the birds nowhere to land and wiping out the micro fauna and flora, some of them could be very rare and local and may never stage a comeback.
Kannampalayam, Pallapalayam, Ravuthar Road( Irugur), Achankulam, Sulur, Singanallur, Kumarasamy lake, Selvampathy Lake, Krishnampathy Lake, Kolarampathy Lake, Ukkulam, Senkulam, Perur Puttuvikki, Valankulam, Ukkadam, Selva Chinthamani, Kurichi, Narasampathi, Vedapatti, Nandankarai, Perur-chettipalayam and Kalapatti are the wetlands of importance, found in Coimbatore.
In fact, some wetlands like Singanallur are attempted now to manage well. Singanallur Tank and the area around it have been declared as biodiversity conservation zone. A press release from the Coimbatore Corporation recently declared the area as a conservation zone. The release said that the objective was to protect the 288-acre water body that was home to 720 species of flora and fauna, including 10 endangered species birds, 200 herbs and fresh water tortoise by declaring the place a conservation zone, because urbanisation threatened its ecology. The work of NGOs in this initiative is commendable and we hope all wetlands are similarly focused. of
PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 2 VEINS 1
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