Kaliveli Lake

Kaliveli Lake, also known as the Kaliveli Lagoon or Kazhuveli wetland, lies on the Coromandel Coast in Viluppuram district of Tamil Nadu, about 16 kilometres north of Puducherry and 10 kilometres north of Auroville. It is described as the second largest lake in south India after Pulicat and is home to the Kaliveli Bird Sanctuary. The seasonal wetland shades from fresh to brackish water and is a key feeding and breeding ground on a migratory bird flyway, regarded by the IUCN as a wetland of national and international importance.

Around 90 per cent of its shore has no road access, which helps keep its wildlife rich, but it faces encroachment by farms, poaching, loss of forest and prawn farming. Those exploring on foot are warned of sinking peat and bogs and of insects that spread disease, and told to carry enough food and water, as other people are rarely met. The ruins of the colonial Allamparwa Fort stand where the north channel enters the lagoon.