The Manimangalam tank, an irrigation tank ("ery"), is one of 1000's of such water bodies that dot the landscape of Chennai and its hinterlands. These ery's were built and designed as water reservoirs that were used primarily to irrigate agricultural fields. A key feature of these water bodies is the cascading arrangement between them, such that most of these tanks are interconnected through channels that allow water to flow from one to another. As the city of Chennai has expanded into its hinterlands, changing land-use and landscape in these spaces have further imperiled the complex ecologies of these waterscapes.
