Lakes and Wetlands
Andhra Pradesh contains 259 coastal wetlands, covering an area of 18,552 km2., out of which 88 are manmade.
Lakes Kolleru and Pulicat are the two major lakes in Coastal Andhra. Kolleru, a natural sweet-water lake, is situated in the West Godavari district and serves as a natural flood-balancing reservoir for the two rivers. The lake is also an important habitat for up to 50,000 resident and migratory birds. The lake was declared a wildlife sanctuary in November 1999 under India's Wildlife Protection Act, and designated a wetland of international importance in November 2002 under the international Ramsar Convention. Pulicat is the largest salt water lake in the country, located in Nellore and spreads between Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. This is one of the famous attractions in south India.
Part of the Godavari delta of the State is also known as Konaseema, a rich delta region in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. Konaseema is known for its green coconut orchards, lush green paddy fields and numerous canals. In this region, the river Akhanda Godavari splits into several distributary branches, including the Gouthami, Vasishta, Vainatheya, and Vruddha Gouthami, before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
Read more about this topic: Coastal Andhra
Famous quotes containing the words lakes and and/or lakes:
“What is most striking in the Maine wilderness is the continuousness of the forest, with fewer open intervals or glades than you had imagined. Except the few burnt lands, the narrow intervals on the rivers, the bare tops of the high mountains, and the lakes and streams, the forest is uninterrupted.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The lakes are something which you are unprepared for; they lie up so high, exposed to the light, and the forest is diminished to a fine fringe on their edges, with here and there a blue mountain, like amethyst jewels set around some jewel of the first water,—so anterior, so superior, to all the changes that are to take place on their shores, even now civil and refined, and fair as they can ever be.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)