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Site description (2004 baseline):

This irrigation tank is a small dam built across the Gundal river, a tributary of the Kabini (Kapila) river, 5 km from the temple town of Nanjangud, which is situated 20 km south of Mysore city. It is a fairly important irrigation tank in Mysore district in terms of both waterspread and the irrigated area. The tank is surrounded by coconut plantations, an Acacia plantation of the Forest Department, paddy fields and the Tagadur Ramachandra Rao canal (Kabini dam right bank canal).

AVIFAUNA: The IBA is an important congregation site for the Bar-headed Goose Anser indicus, Spot-billed Pelican Pelecanus philippensis, Black-headed or White Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus and Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus, and a winter home to the globally threatened Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga. Nearly 750 Bar-headed Geese (1% threshold is 560; Wetlands International 2002), over 2,000 Glossy Ibis (1% threshold is 250), 700 Black-headed Ibis (1% threshold is 100), and 200 Spot-billed Pelican (1% threshold is 40) winter in this lake, along with one or two individuals of the Greater Spotted Eagle. Large numbers of waders and ducks, especially the Northern Pintail Anas acuta and Common Pochard Aythya ferina when the water is deeper, and Garganey Anas querquedula and Northern Shoveller Anas clypeata when the water is shallow, also occur in winter. This IBA is a very rich birding area, where over 100 species can easily be recorded on a three-hour morning visit in winter (T. Shivanand pers. comm. 2003). This site easily fulfils A1 and A4i criteria for IBA selection, developed by BirdLife International (undated).

OTHER KEY FAUNA: As this artificial water body is surrounded by human habitation and cultivation, no large wild mammal is found here. No information is available on reptiles, amphibians or fish fauna.

MAIN THREATS: Siltation; Weak bund (due to lack of maintenance).

Over the years, the catchment area of the Gundal has been denuded of tree cover. The Lake fills completely only once or twice in a decade, at other times it is only partially filled. Before the construction of the Kabini Dam in the 1960s, the Lake irrigated over 3,500 acres. The importance of the Lake is evident on the inauguration slab of the right bank canal, which was laid by the Chief Minister of Karnataka in 1963. The construction of the Kabini canal downstream of the lake bund has led to a slow but sure neglect of the lake, which has gradually silted up after desilting operations were stopped in the 1970s. A part of the lakebed is now used to cultivate sunflower. Another portion was used by the Forest Department to raise an Acacia plantation under the social forestry scheme. The plantation functions as a nesting ground for cormorants when the lake is full. However, encroachment by the sunflower cultivators needs to be immediately checked as they are slowly expanding in area. Afforestation with native species should be done in the catchment area. Desilting works should be taken up immediately under the Tank Rejuvenation Scheme of the Karnataka State Government.

Key contributors: Thejaswi Shivanand and A. Shivaprakash.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Narasambudhi Lake (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/narasambudhi-lake-iba-india on 26/12/2024.