Mookaneri Lake

Mookaneri Lake, also known as Kannankurichi Lake, covers 23.5 hectares at Kannankurichi in Salem taluk, Tamil Nadu, south of the Shevaroy Hills. It is a major water body for Salem, fed by rain and by streams such as Puthu Yeri and Kothukaran Odai that bring water from the hills around Yercaud. The Salem Citizen's Forum began reviving it in May 2010, spending Rs 87 lakh after appeals to the district administration went unanswered.

The lake holds 47 man-made islands, each raised about 10 feet from lakebed clay, first sown with millet to hold the soil and then planted with neem, banyan, jambul, peepal and vetiver; by 2013 they carried nearly 12,000 trees. More than 169 bird species have been seen here, egrets and kingfishers most often, along with flamingos, painted storks, darters and migrants such as garganey and northern pintail. A walking path, play area and small auditorium line the banks, and coracles take visitors out to the islands.