Coimbatore Corporation is embarking on a survey of the flora at Singanallur Tank as part of a conservation effort. The findings will be documented at the New Delhi-based National Repository designated by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and National Bio-diversity authority, Chennai.
The civic body will carry out the phyto-diversity survey in association with the Centre for Urban Bio-Diversity Conservation and Education (CUBE) and the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB).
The Singanallur Tank had already been declared an Urban Bio-Diversity Conservation Zone by the Corporation, in view of its flora and fauna population.
A preliminary study found that the tank was home to 720 species, including 200 herbal plants.
There are 160 avian species, 62 varieties of butterflies, 22 mammals, 24 reptiles and 56 other species. It is also a home for ten species of plants that are on the verge of extinction.
During the migratory season, the tank doubles up as a home for migratory birds from 42 countries, including North America, Siberia, Europe and Africa.
The tank built by Chola kings in the 16th Century was originally spread over 288 acres. But, water holding areas is only around 165 acres now. As many as 58 varieties of birds use the trees in and around the tank as a place for nesting and roosting. It is home to painted stork, pelicans, garganey ducks, stilts, cormants, sand piper, purple moorhen, Asian palm civet and barn swallows.
The survey and documentation is an effort is to save the tank from the degradation that happens to any urban bio-diversity, says Corporation Commissioner K. Vijayakarthikeyan.
Kunhikannan, Scientist at IFGTB, Uma Sekar, Executive Member of CUBE, and Vinny R. Peter of CUBE are involved in this initiative. The survey will help in aquatic and terrestrial plant documentation and also in conservation of the bio-diversity rich zone, they said.
