Karnataka Geography PDF

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NammaKPSC 1ST EDITION Rs. 300/- BANGALORE SCHOOL OF CIVIL SERVICES #18, 2ND FLOOR, 4TH MAIN, NEAR HEBBAL POLICE STATION, BELLARY MAIN ROAD, HEBBAL, BANGALORE. PH: 080-424103963  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA WWW.NAMMAKPSC.COM HELPING CIVIL SERVICES ASPIRANTS 1ST EDITION 2017 Rs 300/- Copyright © by NAMMAKPSC All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission from the author. This document is for personal non-commercial use only For permission requests, mail us at [email protected] Corporate office: BSCS –IAS-Academy; No 18, 2nd floor, Near hebbal police station, Bellary Main Road, Bangalore. Ph: 9886151564/9886777417/080-42103963 © www.NammaKPSC.com 1  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA CONTENT INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................................................3 RELIEF FEATURES.........................................................................................................................................................12 CLIMATE.......................................................................................................................................................................23 DRAINAGE SYSTEM......................................................................................................................................................37 River water disputes....................................................................................................................................................52 SOILS............................................................................................................................................................................63 NATURAL VEGETATION................................................................................................................................................69 IRRIGATION..................................................................................................................................................................80 AGRICULTURE..............................................................................................................................................................99 FISHING......................................................................................................................................................................140 Animal Husbandry.....................................................................................................................................................145 MINERAL RESOURCES................................................................................................................................................155 INDUSTRIES................................................................................................................................................................159 COMPILED AND EDITED BY DR ARJUN BOPANNA © www.NammaKPSC.com 2  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA INTRODUCTION Karnataka: Its Origin The State of Karnataka has a long history as it is evident from various literary sources. It is clearly stated in the 9th century work ‘Kavirajamarga’ the land between Cauery and Godavari is Kannada nadu. However it was a reality only after independence came into existence during the re-organization of states based on linguistics in 1956. It was called Mysuru State after it creation and later it was renamed ‘Karnataka’ on 1st November 1973 under the chief ministership of D.Devaraja Urs. Historical background: Historically the state belonged to different rulers. After the fall of Tipu Sultan in the forth Anglo-Mysuru war in 1799, the princely state of Mysuru was handed over the royal family on Mysuru Wodeyars but it was under the control of British through a resident. Later many parts of the present Karnataka came under British rule in different periods. There were many uprisings against the British rule which were all suppressed and the British rule was extended in these areas. The revolts of Dhodji Wagan in 1800. Veerappa of Koppal in 1819. Kittur Chennamma in 1824, Sangoli Rayanna in 1829 and Chijjaveeraraja of coorg in 1834. The revolt of canara in 1830-31 were all controlled and suppressed by the British. As a result the areas of direct British rule were extended into many parts of the present Karnataka State. The Countrywide uprising of 1857 has its echo in Karnataka too. The princes of Surpur and Nargund, the Bedas of Halagali and Desais of Dharwada led by Mundargi Bhimrao revolted against the British in 1857-58. © www.NammaKPSC.com 3  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA There were uprising in Supa and Khanapur taluks in 1858-59 in which the Siddhis has also joined. The British did put down the revolt, and gained complete control over the land only by 1859. Formation of Karnataka The Princely State of Mysuru came into existence in 1799 after the fall of Tipu Sultan. In 1881 it consisted only of seven districts namely 1. Bengaluru, 2. Mysuru, 3. Kolar, 4. Kadur, 5. Tumakuru, 6. Chitradurga 7. Shivamogga. In 1886 Hassan was formed as the 8th district consisting of seven taluks Mandya district was formed as the 9th disctrict in 1939 with the division of Mysuru district with 8 taluks. Thus, before independence of the old Mysuru state consisted only of 9 districts. When Andhra Pradesh was formed as the first linguistic state in 1953 the Ballary district of Madras state was transferred the old Mysuru State. Further Dakshina Kannada district and Kollegal taluk of Madras state were given to newly formed Karnataka state. At the time of state reorganization Belgavi, Vijapura, Dharawada and Uttara Kannada Districts of Bombay presidency were added to the Karnataka State. From Hydrebad state Bidar, Kalburgi and Raichur were added to Karnataka. Lastly, the state of Coorg, which was separate kingdom was annexed to the new Mysuru state. Thus, the present Karnataka state has been formed by the amalgamation of areas if five different provinces. © www.NammaKPSC.com 4  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Q. Write a short note on the formation of Karnataka state. Discuss the role of Aluru Venkata Rayaru in Unification of Karnataka (200words) Unification of Karnataka At the time of independence the areas of Karnataka were scattered in almost 20 different administrative setups. After independence all these were brought under 5 administrative rules units which were later unified to form the State of Mysuru. These five provinces were 1. Old Mysuru state 2. The Mumbai province 3. The areas which were under the control of Madras province 4. The areas of Hydrebad 5. Coorg Even before the independence there were many revolts for the formation of linguistic states. In Karnataka the efforts of unification began in 1913, Karnataka Vidyavardaka Sangha which was established in 1890 at Dharawada for the promotion of Kannada Language, literature and culture took the lead. Alur Venkata Rao who was better known as Kannada Kula Purohita played a significant role. In 1915, Karnataka Sahithya Parishat was established at Bengaluru under the patronage of Mysuru rulers. Later, many cultural institutions were established all over the state and have supported and participated in the revolution aimed at the unification of the state. Karnataka Ekikarana Sabha was founder at Dhawada in 1916. The Karnataka Unification Conference was held at Belagavi in 1924 in the same venue where Belagavi Congress meeting was also held which was presided by Mahatma Gandhi. Kannada Anthem ‘Udayavagali namma Cheluvina Kannada Nadu’ was composed and sung by Huyilagol Narayana Rao in the Congress meeting. Bombay and Madras Legislatures also passed resolution for the formation of Karnataka State. The Indian National Congress also supported the cause for the formation of Andhra and Karnataka states based on languages. © www.NammaKPSC.com 5  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA After independence Andhra Pradesh was formed in 1953 as the first linguistic state on India. With this Ballari district was added to Mysuru. At the end, the state reorganization committee headed by Fazl Ali, and members K.M.Panikkar and Kunzu recommended for the formation of linguistic states. As a result, the new state was born on 1956 and it was called as Mysuru Sate which was later renamed as Karnataka on 1st November 1973. Aluru Venkata Rayaru Aluru Venkata Rayaru was a leader of the Karnataka Ekikarana movement, which was fighting for a separate state encompassing all Kannada speaking areas of Mysore, Bombay Presidency and Nizam's Hyderabad. The first strains of this movement had started as early as 1856 and the Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha had been established in 1890, the movement took a dramatic turn with the arrival of Aluru Venkata Rayaru. Notable was the publication of Aluru's magnum opus, Karnataka Gatha Vaibhava in 1912. Such was the impact of this work that he came to be known as the Kannada Kula Purohita or the 'High priest of the Kannada kula(family) ' Karnataka Gatha Vaibhava: Karnataka Gatha Vaibhava literally means The glory that was Karnataka. It was a book that recounted in great detail the glorious history that had beenh Karnataka's until the Marathas, Nizam and the British took over. People started rallying around the Ekikarana movement, which picked up momentum. A chance visit to Anegundi and vast ruins of Hampi provided Alur a clear vision about his future course of action. The greatness of Vijayanagara empire and glory of Kannada valour which spread beyond Maharashtra in earlier age, prompted him to awaken Kannada people of his region, who were still wallowing in the ‘hangover’ of Peshwai Maratha rule. Whereas Bengalis could not tolerate one division of their motherland, how could Kannadigas afford to be so apathetic to their mother land being divided into five zones? This was the painful reflection of young Alur. He decided to write a book that could awaken his sleepy people. © www.NammaKPSC.com 6  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA ‘Karnataka Gatavaibhava’ was the result. It is a masterpiece bringing out contribution of all Karnataka dynasties enriching Indian culture by conquests, constructing great temples and monuments, promoting trade and commerce, encouraging learning, promoting literature, etc. It took 13 years to collect material from inscriptions, coins, and old manuscripts to write this book, which made history. He met like-minded people scattered in all the five areas specified earlier. In between he was imprisoned and his license to practice as pleader was cancelled. This made Alur devote himself completely for unification of Karnataka. Finally Alur Venkata Rayaru succeeded. Fifty years of his mission bore fruit. Kannada speaking land became one under the name of Mysore State (1956). It took another 18 years to have its rightful name of Karnataka (1974). The area contributed by the five units to the formation of Mysuru state is given below: Provinces Area in Sq.Km. i. The old Mysuru state with nine districts and the Bellari district 86,273 transferred from Andhra Pradesh. ii. Areas transferred from Bombay presidency Belagavi, Vijapura, 54,464 Dharawada and Uttar Kannada district. iii. Areas transferred from Hyderabad state Bidar, Kalburgi (Except 35,687 Kodangal and Tandur taluks) and Raichur (Expcept Alampur and Gadval taulks). iv. Areas transferred from Madras presidency Dakshina Kannada 11,223 district (Expect kasaragodu taluk and Amindivi island) and Kollegala taluk of Coimbatore district. v. The Coorg Chief commissioners province. 4,100 Total 1,91,757 There is no change in the area of the state since 1961, except for the transfer of a small area of 0.03 Sq.km of Abkavaripally in Begapalli taluk of Kolar district to Andhra Predesh. © www.NammaKPSC.com 7  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Location, Size and Extent Karnataka is located on the western part of the Deccan Plateau. Larger part of the state belongs to the Mysuru Plateau which is one of the three segments of larger Deccan Plateau. In addition to Mysuru Plateau, the State also consists part of Maharashtra Plateau in the north. It is surrounded by Maharashtra in the North, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh in the east, Tamil Nadu in the South and South east, Kerala in the Southwest and Goa in the northwest. In the west it is flanked by the Arabian sea. The state extends from 11°31 to 18° 45’N Did you know? latitudes. The state has a maximum latitudinal extent of 7°14’ From Aurad ✓ Karnataka has two ‘enclaves’ taluk of Bidar district in the north, the completely separated from the state extends up to Moyar River in the main land. south for a distance of 750 km. where as, in ✓ These are Damne village of the extreme south lies Chamarajanagara Belagavi located in Maharastra district. Longitudinally the state extends and Mukhed (Manya Kheda) of from 74°12’ to 78°40’ east. Thus, the sate Aurad taluk, Bidar district also lies has a longitudinal extent of 4°28’. in Maharasta. ✓ Similarly Pavadaga taluk of Karnataka is about 5.843 percent Tumakuru district is a pene of the total geographical area of enclave which has a narrow zone the country. connected with the mainland It ranks eighth in terms of area. According to 2011 census the total population of the state is 61,130704 or 61.1 million. In terms of population the state ranks ninth in the country. The total geographical area of the state is about 1,91,791 Sq.km. The extreme north is Bidar district The Moyar River forms the southern boundary between Gundlupet taluk of Chamarajanagara district and Udagamandalam district of Tamilnadu. Karawara of Uttar Kannada district lies in the extreme west Mulabagilu taluk of Kolar district is in the extreme east From north to south it is about 750kms long. © www.NammaKPSC.com 8 From west to east the state is about 400 kms.  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Administrative division For administrative purposes, Karnataka has been divided into four revenue divisions, 49 sub- divisions, 30 districts, 175 taluks and 745 hoblies/revenue circles. The administration in each district is headed by a Deputy Commissioner who belongs to the Indian Administrative Service and is assisted by a number of officers belonging to Karnataka state services. In 2009 Yadgir has become the 30th district of the state. Initially, at the time of reorganization the state consisted only 19 districts. Bengaluru urban district was formed in 1986 increasing the number of districts to 20. Further, in 1997-1988 a major district reorganization was made during the period of Sri. J.H. Patel, as Chief minister creating seven more new districts. ▪ Dakshina Kannada was divided to form Did you know? Udupi district. There are nearly 3351 Tandas of ▪ Chamarajanagar was separated from Lambani and Banjara Mysuru district which was a pending communities. These were the demand of the people. migratory communities, recently ▪ Koppal district was formed bifurcating Raichur district. settled in some locations. These ▪ Bagalkote was formed dividing Vijapaura were not included under revenue district category and they are lacking of ▪ Gadag and Haveri were separated from even basic amenities and Dharawada. developments. Hence committee ▪ Davangere district was created from was appointed headed by Chitradurga, Shivamogga and Ballari. K.Narasimhaiah, which had ▪ In 2007, Ramanagara and Chikkaballapura recommended for the converting were formed during the Chief Minstership of tandas into revenue villages and it Sri. H.D.Kumaraswamy. was accepted by the government. ▪ Ramanagara district was formed dividing About 284 Tandas are considered the Bengaluru rural district. ▪ Chikkaballapur district was separated from for converting into revenue Kolar district. villages. ▪ Yadgir district separating Kalburgi district. © www.NammaKPSC.com 9  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Current affairs: Karnataka Chief Minister had announced formation of 49 new taluks in the Budget for 2017-18 presented. The new taluks are being created due to geographical and administrative necessities. Currently the State has 175 taluks in 30 Districts. There has been a long pending demand for creation of new taluks, carving out from the existing taluks. Q. Administrative division of Karnataka. (15 Marks) Administrative Divisions The state is divided in to four regional divisions each one headed by a divisional commissioner. The four divisions of the state are: 1. Bengaluru division- It consists of Bengaluru urban and rural, Ramanagar, Kolar, chikkaballapur, Tumakuru, Shivamogga, Chitradurga, Davanagere districts. Bengaluru is the administrative head quarters. It consists of 25.91 percent of the total area of the state with a population share of 36.80 and there are about 52 taluks in the division. 2. Mysuru division- It consists of Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluruuu, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Hassan, Kodagu, Mandya and Mysuru districts. This division consist of 22.67 percent of area and 20.55 percent of population of the state. There are about taluks in the division. © www.NammaKPSC.com 10  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA 3. Belgavi division- It consists of north western part of the state. It includes Belagavi, Vijayapura, Bagalkote, Dharawada, Gadag, Haveri and Uttara Kannada districts. This division has 28.42 percent of the total area of the state but has only 24.21 percent of the population. There are about 49 taluks in the division. 4. Kalburgi division- It has only six districts namely Kalburgi, Raichur, Ballari, Bidar and Koppal. After the creation of Yadgir district on Oct 2009, the number of districts were rised to six. It has 23 percent of the total area of the state but accounts for only 18.46 percent of the total population of the state. There are only 31 taluks in the division. Thus it is the Kalburgi division which has lesser share of population compared to its geographical area. These divisions were abolished in 2003 as part of administrative reforms but started once again as regions with a regional commissioner. Karnataka Area and Population of Administrative Divisions District Area % of Population % of No.of No.of sq.km state 2011 state Taluks Hoblis Bengaluru Dvn. 49697 25.91 22497758 36.80 52 241 Belgavi Dvn. 54513 28.42 14791948 24.21 49 150 Gulbarga Dvn 44108 23.00 11286343 18.46 31 162 Mysuru Dvn 43473 22.67 39504655 20.55 44 192 State 191791 100 61130704 100.0 176 745 © www.NammaKPSC.com 11  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA RELIEF FEATURES Larger area of the state is part of Mysuru plateau which also includes parts of Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh. Northern part of the state however belongs to Maharashtra plateau. The state has large variations of topographical features ranging from the coastal plains to a greater height of Malnad region. Larger part of the eastern part of the state is a vast monotonous plateau in the north, whereas, it is characterized by rolling topography in the south. Innumerable isolated hills dot the plateau region. © www.NammaKPSC.com 12  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA ▪ Larger part of the state has an elevation ranging from 300-1350 meters from the mean sea level. ▪ The highest peak of the state is Mullaiyyangiri which has an height of 1913 meters and lies in the Baba Budangiri hills of Chikkamagaluru district. ▪ It is followed by Kuduremukh which has an elevation of 1892 meters. ▪ The Bhimeswar valley in Sagar taluk of Shimogga district which lies at an height of 86 meters from the mean sea level is the lowest part of the state with an exception of the coastal plains. ▪ 48.81 percent of the total area of the state has an elevation of more than 600 meters. ▪ The plains with an elevation of less than 150 meters is only 5.16 percent of the total area of the state. ▪ Thus, larger part of the state is typical table land dissected by traversing several rivers rising mainly from the Sahyadris. The Indian State of Karnataka is located 11°30' North and 18°30' North latitudes and 74° East and 78°30' East longitude. It is situated on a tableland where the Western and Eastern Ghat ranges converge into the complex, in the western part of the Deccan Peninsular region of India. The State is bounded by Maharashtra and Goa States in the north and northwest; by the Arabian Sea in the west; by Kerala and Tamil Nadu States in the south and by the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the east. Karnataka extends to about 750 km from north to south and about 400 km from east to west.It is situated at the angle where the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats of South India converge into the Nilgiri hills. Karnataka Plateau The Karnataka Plateau is also known as the Mysore plateau. Lies to the south of the Maharashtra plateau. The area looks like a rolling plateau with an average elevation of 600-900 m. It is highly dissected by numerous rivers rising from the Western Ghats. The general trend of the hills is either parallel to the Western Ghats or across it. The highest peak (1913 m) is at Mulangiri in Baba Budan Hills in Chikmaglur district. The plateau is divided into two parts called Malnad and Maidan. The Malnad in Kannada means hill country. It is dissected into deep valleys covered with dense forests. The Maidan on the other hand is formed of rolling plain with low granite hills. The plateau tapers between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats in the south and merges with the Niligiri hills there. © www.NammaKPSC.com 13  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Divisions Based on the relief features in the state is divided into three well marked physiographic regions. 1. The coastal plains 2. The malnad 3. The eastern maidan region or bayalu Seeme. The maidan region is further subdivided into northern and southern Maidan regions. In addition, a narrow belt between Malnad and Maidan is also known as semi-Malnad. But topographically it is very difficult to demarcate the semi malnad region and it is a reality only in terms of climate. Thus, only three major physiographic divisions of the state are clearly recognized. The Coastal region: ▪ It is the western most part of the state. ▪ A narrow coastal plain overlooking the Arabian sea forms a unique physiographic unit of the state. ▪ It constitutes the transitional zone between the Konkan coast in the north and the plains of Malabar Coast in the south. ▪ Being at the centre of Konkan and Malbar, Did you know? Karnataka coast has both the features of adjoining coastal regions. There are no large deltas ▪ Spit and lagoon shore line of Kerala extends even along the coast due to most into the state upto the mouth the Tadri river. active south-west ▪ The coastal plains of Karnataka is largely a wave monsoons which produces cut platform; Thus it is an erosional plain waves of greater height. rather than depositional. These have washed the ▪ The coastal plains of Karnataka are quite large i.e., coast and carried down the about 50-60 kms in the South and narrow with a riverine loads into the deep width of only 13 kms in the north. sea. ▪ The average height is less than 20 meters from the mean sea level. ▪ The coastal tract is cut into a step like terraces due to oscillations and fluctuations in the sea level during the geological past. © www.NammaKPSC.com 14  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA ▪ The west coast is of recent origin geologically due to breakup of the Indian subcontinent from that of Agrica and down faulting during cretaceous period. ▪ The coast has both submergence and emergence features. Coastal plain: ▪ The coastal plains of the state can be divided into northern and southern sections. ▪ In the north it is very narrow in which the Kali, the Tadri, the Gangavalli and the Sharavati rivers drains into the Arabian sea. ▪ The plains of these rivers are separated by low east-west running, off shoots of the Sahyadris or elongated spurs almost extending upto the coast and ending abruptly with cliffs. ▪ The southern section of the plain is much wider and has a maximum width of 70 kms. ▪ Near the port of Mangaluru in the Netravati valley, Western Ghats deviate further inland and the alluvial plain is quite large. ▪ Between the belt of recent deposits along the coast and erosional platform, an extension of the Western Ghats is clearly demarcated by a cliff in between them. Zones of the coastal plain: Even the coastal plain is not monotonous. There are three well marked zones in the littoral plain. These are: i. Along the shore line there is a narrow belt of recent deposits. It is characterized with Sand dunes, estuarine mud and valley plains. This zone is almost flat and the elevation is less than 3 meters. ii. East of the coastal low land, there is a parallel zone. It is an erosional platform and it extends upto 60 meters of elevation. It is about 25 km wide in the south. It is deeply dissected and steep valleys are formed by the west flowing streams. Usually a cliff mars the slope between the western recent deposits and the eastern erosional platform. iii. Further east the coastal plains consists of group of low hills. The elevations range between 90 to 300 meters. The coastal plain of Karnataka has been eroded by innumerable streams and rivers which rise in the western ghats. There are many ports and harbours along the coast such as Mangaluru, Bhatkal, Malpe, Karwar, Kumta, Honnavar etc. © www.NammaKPSC.com 15  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Beaches and other coastal features Om Beach near Gokarna is a ▪ The most important coastal features of Karnataka very good example for are the Beaches crescent type. Maravante ▪ South of Bhatkal, the beaches are ‘Straight without beach is a best example for headlands’. straight beach without ▪ In the north Bhatkal, the beaches are ‘crescent’ headlands. shaped, formed between headlands and estuaries. ▪ There are cliffed shore lands around Someshwar, Surtkal and Baindur ▪ Estuaries are most common along the coast of Karnataka. ▪ There are also spits near Kumta, northern part of Ullal beach, north of Mangaluru. ▪ In the Gurpur area the barrier reef run for about 10 kms. ▪ The Spit near Honnavar is gently curved and the other near Malpe is hook shaped. ▪ Most of the spits are confined to the southern part of the coast. Islands: ▪ There are many offshore islands in the northern part of the coast ▪ Kanjigudda, Kurmaada island, Devgada, Mogeraguda and Anjidiv off Karwar ▪ Basavarayanardurga off Honnavar ▪ Pigeon, Keerekund and Hog islands off Bhatkal ▪ In the southern part there are few islands of which Coconut island, Saint Mary’s island, Northisland, Dariya Bhadurgarh, south island are important. These are located near Malpe. © www.NammaKPSC.com 16  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA ▪ Tombolos(a bar of sand joining an island to the mainland.) are also seen near Murdeshwar and South of Honnavar. ▪ The important bays along the west coast are Karwar Bay north of Karwar, Binge Bay south of Karwar and Belekeri Bay located north of Ankola. The Malnad Region ▪ The Malnad region is the name given to the western ghats. ▪ These are also called the Sahyadris. ▪ It is a hilly tract laying between the western narrow coastal plain and the far stretching eastern Maidan region. ▪ These form an important geographic as well as geomorphic feature of the Indian subcontinent. ▪ It is parallel to the coast and extends from north west to south east. ▪ The ghats in the north extends from Maharastra, continues south wards through Karnataka, further extends southwards between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. ▪ The state consists of the central part of the ghats. ▪ In Karnataka the ghats run for about 650 kms and the width range between 50-76 km. There are several opinions ▪ The ghats rises abruptly from the coastal plain to regarding the origin of the an height of 900-1500 meters. Western Ghats. The most ▪ It is an escarpment in the west characterized accepted version that it is with steep slope. only an uplifted and deeply ▪ At some parts it forms a cliff overlooking the monotonous coastal plain which is a wave-cut eroded highland but not a platform. mountain. ▪ In the east it has a gentle slope and merge The Western ghat is an with the maidan region. In contrast to vertical upthrown block while the abrupt cliff in the west raising to more than 985 west coast is the down trown meters, the eastern slopes are gentle, comprising block. undulating plains, meandering rivers. Thus, the Western Ghats show conspicuous west facing high scraps. © www.NammaKPSC.com 17  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Origin: The Western Ghats originated due to normal Did you know? faulting. The igneous rocks found in many It was separated from the continent of Africa locations such as Saint Mary’s and Madagascar Island. islands is a result of volcanism Indian sub continent was drifted to northeast which took place at the time of and formation of escarpment along the break up of India and western margin of India was due to wave Madagascar. The breakup took action. place almost during the Miocene Recession of the ghats due to the marine period. erosion and marine transgression and Because of orange cultivation regression resulting in the formation of Kodagu is also called ‘Orange coastal plain. Thus, the coastal plain is Country’ largely a wave cut platform. Later, westerly drainage was gradually evolved. Dominant westerly drainage has captured rivulets of easterly drainage resulting in lengthening of westerly rivers Esturies and lagoons along the coast were developed in the later period. The heavy monsoon rainfall caused rapid erosion and retreat of Western Ghats scrap eastwards. © www.NammaKPSC.com 18  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Peaks There are many peaks in the Western Ghats. These were formed by the erosional action of rivers on the flat topped residual plateau. The uneroded blocks are pointed and appear as peaks. The most important peaks are Mullayyanagiri in the Bababudangiri hills or Chandradrona Parvata which is the highest peak of the State. Its height is 1913 meters. Passes There are three important passes or ghats in the Western Ghats which provide excellent location for transport and communication between the coastal plain and the maidan region traversing the Western Ghats. These are: 1. Charmudi ghat- between Chikkamagaluru and Mangalore. It passes through Mudigere, Charmudi, Belthangadi and Bantwal. 2. Agumbe ghat-between Shivamogga and Udupi. It passes through Thrithahalli, Agumbe and Someswara. 3. Kollur ghat- between Shirur and Bindur in Udupi district. Green tunnel at Shiradi Ghat The proposed 23-km tunnel road at Shiradi Ghat will be constructed without cutting a single tree The proposal has been submitted to the Union Finance Ministry, which has apparoached the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for funding. The tunnel road will be first of its kind in the country, and it is estimated to cost about Rs 10,000 crore, he added. Shiradi is a village on NH 48 (NH 75 at present) which runs from Mangalore to Bangalore. The Shiradi Ghat starts from a small temple "Garadi Chamundeshwari temple" near Gundya at the border of Dakshina kannada and Hassan districts. The stretch of the National Highway passing through the Shiradi Ghat is poorly maintained according to sources. It was upgraded by the National Highways Authority of India at a cost of ₹ 26 crore. In 2012, the Government of Karnataka sought help from the Japanese government to bore a tunnel through the ghat. Later, the State Government released money to keep the road motorable during rains. Shiradi Ghat will have a tunnel bypass road, the construction project will begin before December 2016. The proposed tunnel bypass road is expected to be 29 km and provides seamless travel through the ghat stretch with 6 tunnels and 10 bridges. The new project costing Rs. 12,000 crore would be executed with financial assistance from the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) © www.NammaKPSC.com 19  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Height in Peak meters District Water falls Mullayyanagiri 1913 Chikkamagaluru Jog falls (253m) on Sharavati Bababudangiri 1894 Chikkamagaluru river, Dood sagar falls in Uttara Deviramana gudda 1817 Chikkamagaluru Kannada district, Kudremukh 1892 Chikkamagaluru Kalasa water falls and Surla Rudragiri 1751 Chikkamagaluru water falls (152 m) on Mahadayee river in Khanapura Tadianda mol 1750 Kodagu taluk, Pushpagiri 1713 Kodagu Unchalli falls on the Aghanashini (Subramanya betta) river (116m), Magod falls on Bedti river in Bellalarayana Durga 1500 Chikkamagaluru Yellapur taluk, Nandidurga 1491 Chikkamagaluru Gokak falls on Ghataprabha river Biligiri Rangana 1492 Chamarajanagara in Belagavi district, betta Sathodi falls in Yellapur taluk, Hebbe falls in Bababudangiri hills in Chikkamagaluru district (53m) The Maidan Region Dabbe falls in Shivamogga The Maidan region lies to the east of Malnad district (100m), and presents an undulating landscape. Yelaneeru falls on Maavina Sasi It is triangular in shape. river in Beltangadi taluk, The average height varies from 450-760 Maniyadhara falls in meters in the north whereas in the south it Bababudangiri hills in varies from 900-1200 meters. Chikkamagaluru district It is conveniently divided into two sub Irpu falls on Lakshmana Tirta in divisions by the Thugabhadra river which Kodagu district (51m), flows from southwest to northeast in the Gokak falls in Ghataprabha river central part of the maidan region. (52m) in Belagavi district The southern part is much higher and slopes Abbi falls in Kodagu district eastwards. It is largely drained by the Cauvery and its tributaries. The northern maidan on the other hand is almost monotonous plateau, interspersed by isolated hills, and larger area of it is in the Krishna river basin. © www.NammaKPSC.com 20  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA The plateau is deeply dissected indicating that original peneplained surface has been rejuvenated by upliftment. Topography is matured. The entire plateau is slightly titled to the east during the cretaceous period attributed to tectonic forces. Geologically it is essentially Precambrian. The Northern Maidan Region: It is the land north of the Tungabhadra river and to the east of the western-ghats. It is a monotonous treeless extensive plateau. It is largely the basin of Krishna, the Bhima and the Tugnabhadra rivers. There are some chains of flat topped hills such as Kaladgi and Badami areas in Bagalkote district. A low extension of Mahadeo range ending at Vijayapura forms the watershed between the Bhima and the Krishna rivers. In some of the limestone areas faulting has The northern Maidan region resulted in giving rugged appearance to the is known for severe droughts landform to the east of Saudatti and Badami. in the state. It is a rain shadow The most important water fall of the region is region with an annual mean Gokak falls of 62 meters. Other important water rainfall of less than 70 cm. Not falls are Chayabhagavati and Sogala. only the amount of rainfall is Though irrigation has been extended in the low, it is also highly variable recent period, larger of the region still lies under and uncertain. rainfed conditions. Major crops are Jowar, Cotton, Capsicum, Pulses, Groundnut, Sunflower and Tur gram. In the irrigated areas Sugarcane and rice are significant. Southern Maidan Region: It is highly undulating and extends upto the Nilgiri hills of Tamilnadu. From the river Tunga Bhadra it extends southwards. There are some hill ranges such as, Biligrirangana Betta, Male mahadeshwara Betta, Narayanadurga, Devarayana durga, Nandihills etc., The Moyar river valley separate the southern maidan region from Tamilnadu. The southern maidan region is also termed as the Mysuru plateau extending from the Tungabhadra river in the north to Moyar river in the south. © www.NammaKPSC.com 21  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA It slopes towards east. In addition to hill ranges there are many inselbergs and flat topped hills. Srirangapatna and Shimsha are the two important riverine island. The southern Maidan region is known for red and red sandy soils which are not highly fertile. The Chitradugra hills is a It is a rain shadow region but gets comparatively continuous chain for 270 kms more rainfall than the northern counterpart. from Chitradurga to Irrigation is most widespread. Chikkanayakana halli. Kaveri and Nandidurga rivers namely Pennar and Madhugiri hills (1199 Palar are the major rivers of the region. meters) is the largest single The region is known for the cultivation of Ragi, rock hill (monolith) in the Rice, Mulburry, Sugarcane, tobacco, vegetables, continent of Asia. fruits and a variety of pulses. Water fall River Height (meters) Jog-Gerugoppa Sharavati 253 Bhandaje Netravati 216 OOnchalli/Lushington Agahanashini 123 Chaya Bhagavati Doni 122 Shimsha Shimsha 94 Magodu Gangavali-Bedti 137 Gokak Ghataprabha 53 Languli Kali 62 Hogenakal Cauvery 25 Chuncanakatte Cauvery 20 Gaganachukki Cauvery 100 Bharachukki Cauvery 100 © www.NammaKPSC.com 22  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA CLIMATE The state has all the characteristics of typical tropical monsoon climate. At the same time it has well developed seasonality of winds for which Karnataka is described as a land of two monsoons. It bears not only the influence of the nearby Arabian sea, but also the Bay of Bengal which lies far off in the east. The southwest monsoons from the Arabian sea are the most important in the climate of the state. In addition of cyclones-depressions which are formed almost regularly in the Bay of Bengal and occasionally in the Arabian sea will bring large volume of moisture and influence the weather condition. Agumbe in Thirthahalli taluk of The north-east monsoons are Shivamogga district receive an average predominant during the winters and annual rain fall of 827.6 cm. It is the most also during the pre monsoon period. rainiest place in the state,. Recently it is The Western Ghats are the typical relief observed that Hulikal located about few features running almost from north to km away from Agumbe is also recording south, which have virtually divided the highest rainfall in Karnataka and both state climatically. the wettest places are in Shivamogga The climate of the state range from the district. From here Challakere of moist rainy monsoons in the west to Chitradurga district which is about 196 semi and dry steppe type of climate in km receive only 45.6 cm of rainfall the north. annually. It is the driest place in Larger area of Karnataka has dry Karnataka state. steppe type of climate Seasons Annual weather condition of the state is conveniently divided into four well marked seasons. These are: 1. The summer season-March to May. 2. The South West monsoon season-June to September. 3. The retreating monsoon season- October to November. 4. The winter season- December to February. © www.NammaKPSC.com 23  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA The Summer season In Karnataka summer season begins from the beginning of March continues upto the end of Raichur on 23 May 1928 May till the onset of southwest monsoons from has recorded a the beginning of June. temperature of 45.60 C which is the highest Temperature: temperature ever recorded During this period the perpendicular rays of till date. the sun as well as the doldrum gradually shifts northwards. So temperature gradually increases in the state. The month of May records highest temperature and it is the hottest month of the State. The north eastern districts have more than 400 C temperature. Kalburgi records highest monthly average temperature in May in the state, which is about 42.20 C. Humidity: During this period, relative humidity is quite low. Less than 30 percent of relative humidity is found to the north of Chitradurga. However in the malnad and the coastal areas it is more than 40 percent. Even in the southern part of the state it is about 30-40 percent. Rainfall: The state gets about 7 percent of its annual rainfall during the summers. The malnad and the southern part of the state gets more rainfall and it decreases towards north. The extreme southern districts namely Chamarajanagar, Mysuru, Kodagu, Hassan, Ramanagar and Mandya districts gets about 20 percent of annual rainfall during the summer period. During the summers March gets lowest rainfall where as maximum rainfall is in the month of May. As the doldrum moves northwards in the state, it is followed by pre-monsoon rains. © www.NammaKPSC.com 24  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA The state experiences thunder storms, lightning and hailstones in two periods. These are between April-May due to very high temperature resulting in the convective currents which causes cumulo- nimbus clouds associated with heavy rainfall with thunder storms, lighting and hailstone. The second period of thunder storms is September-October. Q. What is the significance of Summer Rainfall in Karnataka? The summer rains are also described as pre-monsoons. These are called ‘Coffee blossoms’ as these rains helps flowering of coffee plantations and also ‘mango showers’ as the rainfall is highly favourable for mango crop in the state. In the southern districts of the state the summer rainfall is quite vital and most of the tanks are get filled. As the summer rainfall is more regular and reliable in the southern districs, the agricultural operations begins in this period. Even in the irrigated tracts summer crops (zaid) are grown depending on pre monsoon rains. The south west monsoon season It is the most important rainy season of land. Beginning with June the season continues till the end of September. Temperature: In Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru, Large amount of cloudiness and heavy Shivamogga and western malnad rainfall are the common features of the taluks of Hassan the maximum season. So gradually temperature temperature of July is lower than decreases. January. Why? In the north-eastern districts like Large scale cloudiness for longer Kalburgi, Raichur, Ballary and Yadagir duration of the day, and frequent heavy temperature is relatively high of about rainfall reduces and causes lower 320 C and else where in the state it is below 300 C. In other districts, it is only temperature. In contrast cloudless clear 20-240 C. sky and dry weather of the winter has more temperature. Humidity: Relative Humidity is very high during the south west monsoons. It is maximum of about 90 percent in the malnad and the coastal regions whereas in the remaining parts of the state it is about 60-80 percent. © www.NammaKPSC.com 25  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA It is maximum in the month of July and decrease drastically after September. Rainfall: Bursting of monsoon- refers It is the most important rainy season of the to the sudden change in state. weather conditions in India The isohyets run north-south almost parallel (typically from hot and dry to the coastal. In the western part of the state weather to wet and humid the isohyets are very close where as in the weather during the southwest eastern part, these are irregular indicating monsoon), At equinox times; jet large variations of rain fall. streams gets divided over two The state experiences sudden bursting of parts over himalayas. Due to south-west monsoon. warm cell effect, lower part The monsoons are effectively checked by the disappear suddenly & LP Western Ghats and temperature decreases created; Hence, bursting of adiabatically resulting in the formation of monsoon. Cumulo-nimbus clouds which gets torrential heavy rains, Both the malnad and coastal Did you know monsoon burst is areas of the state are known for incessant caused by intensive low rainfall for several days during the season. pressure bordering the Rain fall is not continuous but has breaks for Himalayas called monsoon few days and continues once again. through and shifiting of Rainfall is very high in the malnad and the Doldrum towards north. It coastal areas. It is about 320cm in the coastal results in the bursting of south region while it is maximum of mor than 500 west monsoons which bring cm in the malnad region. huge amount of rainfall. Agumbe is the wettest place of the state which recods 827.6 cm and the Bhagamandala of Kodagu gets more than 500 cm. The amount of rainfall decreases after crossing the crest of the western ghats. To the east of the western Ghats there is a large rain shadow region. It extends from the eastern parts of the Belagavi district in the north continues south wards upto Mysuru and chamarajanagara district. This belt gets only 40 cm of rainfall during the season. Within the region there is an area of lowest rainfall in the state which extends from Chitradurga to Mysuru district. This belt gets only 30 cms of rainfall. © www.NammaKPSC.com 26  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA The places which gets lowest rainfall during the season are Gundlupet 20.4 cm and Challakere of Chitradurga 21.7 cm. The state gets almost 80 percent of the annual rainfall during the south west monsoons. However the share of southwest monsoon rainfall differs in different regions of the state. In the maidan region of the east it is about 60-70 percent of the annual rains but more than 80 percent in the Malnad and in the coastal areas. In constrast it is only less than 50 percent in the southern districts. Even the number of rainy days differs. In malnad and the coastal belt the rainy days are highest of above 95-105 days. In the maidan region it is about 25-30 days. In contrast in Mandya, Chitradurga and Ballary districts the rainy days during the season is only 20 and in the extreme northeast Bidar Kalaburgi districts the rainy days are 30-40. Break in the South West Monsoons During the Monsoon season, there are periods when the Monsoon trough shifts to the foothills of Himalayas, which leads to sharp decrease in rainfall over most parts of the country but increase along the Himalayas and parts of Northeast India and Southern Peninsula. During July and August, there are certain periods when the monsoons become weak. Rainfall practically ceases over the country outside the Himalayan belt and southeast peninsula. This is known as break in the monsoon. Breaks are likely to occur during the second week of August and last for a week. The breaks are believed to be brought about by the northward shifting of the monsoon trough (minimum low pressure cell in ITCZ). The axis of the trough lies at the foothills of the Himalayas during the break period. The monsoon trough is a portion of the Intertropical Convergence Zone as depicted by a line on a weather map showing the locations of minimum sea level pressure, and as such, is a convergence zone between the wind patterns of the southern and northern hemispheres. During the break period, heavy rainfall occurs over the sub-Himalayan regions and the southern slopes of the Himalayas. On an average one or two breaks do occur during the rainy season. 85 out of 100 years there is a break in the monsoons. © www.NammaKPSC.com 27  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA The retreating monsoon season Beginning from October the retreating of monsoons continues till the end of November. During the season, southwest monsoons are seized and north-east monsoon are set in. Thus, south west monsoons are gradually replaced by northeast monsoons. However being away from the Bay of Bengal and also due to comparatively weak northeast monsoons the amount of humidity and rainfall in the state are comparatively low. The perpendicular rays of the sun and Doldrum which have moved northwards earlier shifts southwards in October. As a result temperature increases once again and thus it is called the ‘Second Summer’. It is associated with heavy rainfall with thunderstorms, lighting and hailstone for the second time in the state. Rainfall: The coastal plains gets only 20-30 cm of rainfall, where as it is about 40-50 cm in the malnad districts. In the extreme northern districts of the eastern maidan districts, it is only 10 cms. However in the southern districts particularly Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru rural and urban, Ramanagar and Tumakuru it is about 30-40 cm. It is almost 50 percent of the annual rainfall of these districts where as it is only 10 percent of the annual rainfall in the coastal and malnad regions. Thus north east monsoons are quite significant in the southern and central parts of the state. Cyclones and depressions The weather condition of the state during the retreating monsoons is frequently affected by cyclones and depressions which usually originate in the Bay of Bengal. The state gets more benefits from the cyclones and depressions rather than affected by the losses as it is away from the eastern coast. The state experiences cyclones in two sesons one in April-May (summers) and the other between October-November. © www.NammaKPSC.com 28  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Cyclones during the summer season i.e., April-May are rare but almost a regular phenomenon during October-November. The depressions and cyclones of the Bay of Bengal of October-November are the conveyors of large scale moisture to the state. The South eastern, southern and the central districts of the state gets cloudy and rainy weather by each depression almost for a week. Some times the cyclones reach the Arabian sea in the west and get rejuvenated and recurved from which the coastal region gets heavy rains. The Winter seasons Beginning from December it continues almost till the end of February. The state being located in the tropical region, the winter are not too cold and severe. The weather is chilly and quite fair. Temperature: The coastal and southern districts have warm weather with a mean temperature ranging between 22 to 25o C. The annual ranges of January is the coldest month of the state. temperature is lowest of about The lowest temperature recorded in the state was only 6 o C in the coastal region 2. 8°c on 16 December, 1918 at Bidar. The and it is highest of about 13-14 meteorological data shows that Belagavi (6.7 °C), o C in the Ballari, Raichur and Vijayapura (6.4°C) and Kalburgi (5.6°C) normally Kalburgi region. In the records lowest temperatures in the state during southern districts annual mean the winters. range of temperature is about The mean daily minimum temperature in January 6.7 o C. is 20°C in the coastal region and it decreases eastwards to 13-14°C in the malnad and to 17-18°C in the north eastern districts. Rainfall: Winter is the driest period and the state accounts only for about 1 percent of annual rainfall. In the north-eastern districts namely Bidar, Kalburgi and Yadgir it is about 20 cm and it is about 1 cm in the southern districts. © www.NammaKPSC.com 29  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Due to inversion of temperature during the winter season, fog occurs generally in the malnad and maidan region. Distribution of Rainfall The average mean rainfall for the state is 113.8 cm. Seasonally about 80 percent is concentrated in the southwest monsoon period. It is the wettest season in the state. The winter season accounting for 3 months gets only 1 percent of the annual rainfall. Thus, it is the driest period in the state. The summer season accounts for 7 percent The retreating season for 12 percent of annual rains. As such Karnataka is known as ‘Land of two monsoons’. Agumbe of Thirthahalli taluk of Shivamogga district has the record of heaviest rainfall in Karnataka. In 1893 it has recorded 1277 cms which has remained highest annual rainfall in the state till date. In some years rainfall in Agumbe and Hulikal exceeds even Chirrapunji also called Sohra of Meghalaya. Rainfall Zone Karnataka is conveniently divided into four rainfall zones. 1. Area of more than 400 cm rainfall : ✓ It is the area of heaviest rainfall in the state. ✓ It includes southern section of the Western Ghats. ✓ Parts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, shivamoga, chikkamagaluru and kodagu are in this zone 2. Area of 200-400 cm rainfall: ✓ It lies around the zone of 400 cm rainfall. ✓ It includes parts of Western Ghats as well as the entire coastal plain. ✓ It extends from Belagavi in the north of Heggadadevanakote taluk of Mysuru district in the south. 3. Area of 100-200 cm rainfall : ✓ It lies to the east of western Ghats. © www.NammaKPSC.com 30  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA ✓ In the south it includes the entire maidan region and also parts of Bidar,kalburgi and Raichur districts in the north east. 4. Areas of less than 60 cms of rainfall: ✓ It is the area of lowest rainfall in the state. ✓ In the north it begins from Vijayapura and eastern taluks of Belagvai extends southwards through Bagalkote, Koppal and Raichur districts. ✓ It also includes Chitradurga, Tumakuru, Districts as well as eastern taluks of Chikkamagaluru district. ✓ The region is known for highest variability of rainfall as well as severe droughts frequently. Drought prone region Karnataka has the second largest area prone to For delineation of drought prone drought, next only Rajasthan in the country area most important parameters The amount of rainfall is very low in the drought used are: prone area and at the same time rainfall is highly variable from one year to another. The rainfall is 1. Less than 75 percent of most unreliable and uncertain. annual mean rainfall. 2. Variability of annual mean rainfall 25 percent and more. For the identification of drought prone areas Thornth 3. Deficit of rainfall in more wait’s PE index is commonly used. Daksha Barai and than 20 percent of years. Naganna have delineated the drought prone areas of 4. Located in the arid and semi Karnataka in 1979 and have also sub divided it into three arid zones zones. They have used aridity index following the formula: 𝑾𝑫 𝑨𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒙 = 𝑿𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝑾𝑵 (WD= water deficit, WN= Water need) 1. Drought prone area: ✓ It is the area of less than 75 cm of annual mean rainfall. ✓ Isohyets of 75 cm separate the region from the rest of the state. ✓ It extends from Vijayapura in the North to Kolar in the south. 2. Core drought prone region: ✓ It is within the drought prone region. © www.NammaKPSC.com 31  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA ✓ The annual mean rainfall is less than 60cm. 3. Hard core drought region: ✓ It is the severe drought prone, core part of the drought prone region. ✓ Annual mean rainfall is less than 50cm. New definition by IMD: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has changed the languages and also re-defined terms that are not scientifically precise in weather forecasting. In this regard, IMD has issued official notification to do away with outdated language to avoid communication gap with the civil administration so they can be more realistic in case of upcoming weather events. Following are the changes: Classification all-India rainfall into five categories: 1. Normal: ± 10 per cent of the long period average (lpa). 2. Below normal: Rainfall lower than 10 per cent below average of the lpa. 3. Above normal: Rainfall greater than 10 per cent above average of the lpa. 4. Deficient year: Rainfall deficit between 10 and 20 per cent up to 40 per cent of India’s spatial area. 5. Large deficient year: Rainfall deficit of over 10 per cent across more than 40 per cent of India’s area. Criteria to classify seasonal rainfall. IMD has introduced 6 new categories replacing old four rainfall categories (excess, normal, deficient and scanty). New categories are: 1. Large excess: 60 per cent and above. 2. Excess: between 20 per cent and 59 per cent. 3. Normal: minus 19 per cent to plus 19 per cent; 4. Deficient: minus 20 per cent to minus 59 per cent. 5. Large deficient: below 60 per cent 6. No Rain: 0 per cent. © www.NammaKPSC.com 32  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Write a short notes on the Climatic regions of Karnataka. 150 words. Climatic region The state is divided into climatic classifications. The state Gazetteer has divided the state into four climatic regions. These are: a. Coastal region: Area to the west of Western Ghats where the annual rainfall is more than 300 cm. b. The western ghat region: It extends from Belagavi in the north upto south western part of Mysuru district. Annual mean rainfall in the ghat region varies from 400-800 cm and in the east it extends upto anisohyet of 200 cm. c. Northern Plain region: it includes the entire northern maidan region of the state. Mean elevation is about 350 to 650 meters and mean annual rainfall is 50- 150 cm. d. Southern Maidan region: It is the region of undulating topography, elevation ranging between 600-1000 m. Annual mean rainfalls varies from 46-200 cm. This classification almost resembles the consideration of natural divisions of the state. Koppen’s classification In the classification the state is divided into three climatic divisions: i. Amw: It is the tropical monsoon region. Winters are dry. It includes the coastal plains and the Western Ghats. ii. Bshw: It is the semi arid steppe type of climate. It is the largest climatic region of the state. It includes the entire northern part of the state. iii. Aw: It is tropical Savanna type of climate. Entire south and south eastern part of the state is in this region. © www.NammaKPSC.com 33  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Why Western Ghats in Karnataka receive more monsoon rainfall compared to other parts? In a recent study of rainfall trends using remotely sensed satellite data and actual field data from the Indian Meteorological Department of the Western Ghats region over the past 14 years, it was found that during the monsoon © www.NammaKPSC.com 34  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA months of June, July, August, September, the average rainfall was more over Karnataka than Maharashtra and Kerala. The Western Ghats run parallel to the Arabian Sea coast for approximately 1,600 km from the Maharashtra-Gujarat border to the southern tip of Kerala. There are several reasons for this. 1. The mountain topography in Karnataka is broader than the narrow topography of the Ghats in Maharashtra. Due to the greater width of the mountains, the rain bearing winds have to necessarily travel a longer distance and have more time for the drops to coalesce and precipitate as rainfall, resulting in higher rainfall. In contrast, the narrow width of the Ghats in Maharashtra allows the rain-bearing wind to cross over to the leeward side rapidly before precipitation can occur. As for Kerala, the Ghats there are in the form of isolated mountains, where the rain-bearing winds can easily cross over to the leeward side through the gaps in between without precipitation occurring. 2. The slope of the mountain has a direct bearing on the possibility of precipitation. This is borne out by the Ghats of Karnataka where the mountains are gently sloping, compared to the steep slopes of the Ghats in Maharashtra and Kerala. The air parcel will retain its energy and speed for a longer time when the slope is gradual. This will provide sufficient vertical motion to cloud droplets to grow by collision–coalescence process and hence form precipitation. 3. The gentle slope provides a greater area for sunlight absorption and heating leading to greater convection when compared with an abrupt slope i.e. Less Ghat area such as that of the Maharashtra and Kerala Ghats. 4. The continuous mountain range presents a greater barrier to rain- bearing winds than a range comprising isolated mountains with gaps in between where the winds can easily pass to the leeward side. Unlike © www.NammaKPSC.com 35  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA in the case of Kerala, the Ghats in Maharashtra and Karnataka are continuous. The study also found that often areas of heavy rainfall were far away from the summits of the mountains, as much as 50 km away. The reason for this is that there is more chance of rainfall occurring at the foot of the mountain as there is greater depth for the moisture in the clouds to coalesce into big drops which finally reach the ground. The Andes mountains of Chile run parallel to Chile’s Pacific coast and boast of some of the highest peaks in the world. Lying in the rain shadow of the mountains is the Atacama desert — one of the most desolate, barren and hostile deserts in the world. Most of the precipitation from rain bearing winds falls on the windward side or on the mountains themselves and hence the barrenness of the Atacama desrert. Had the western ghats been as lofty as the Andes or the Himalayas, the mountains and the rain shadow region would not boast of the dense vegetation and rich biodiversity of flora and fauna as they do now © www.NammaKPSC.com 36  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA DRAINAGE SYSTEM The state with a landshare of 5.85 percent of India accounts for 6 percent of surface water resources of the country. It also account for 4.4 percent of ground water resources. Most of the rivers of Karnataka rises in the Western Ghats flows either eastwards into the Bay of Bengal or to west wards into the Arabian sea. The east bound rivers are quite long, broad and these are the more significant for the state. The east flowing rivers accounts for about 86.32 percent of the total geographical area of the state. But only 41.7 percent of the surface water flows through these rivers. The west flowing rivers occupies only 13.68 percent of the total land area of the state but accounts for a lion’s share of surface water of about 58.3 percent. Drainage Systems Karnataka has five major drainage systems. These are separated by three major water divides. These are the Western Ghats, Harischandragarh-Balghat range and the Nandi durg range of the south east. The Western Ghats are the most important water dividing range running Some of the west flowing almost parallel to the west coast rivers rises in the east of the separating the waters of east and west Crestline of the ghats and bound rivers flows westwards. It is argued In the northern part of the state that this phenomenon is Harischandragarh-Balghat range largely due to river capture separate the Krishna and Godavari river of the eastbound streams by basins. the strong west flowing rivers. In the extreme south eastern part of the state the Nandi Durg range parts the Cauvery and the three Nandi durg river systems. © www.NammaKPSC.com 37  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA PATTERN Most of the river systems of the state belong to the category of denditric pattern, the master stream as the main trunk of a tree and the tributaries as its branches. The river Krishna and Cauvery are of this category. The other three systems are quite different. The rivers flowing to the Arabian sea are parallel to each other and called parallel system. In Bidar district the Godavari system has river Manjra flowing east wards, where as its tributary the Karanja flows westward originating in Andhra Pradesh. The direction of the consequent main river and its tributary are opposite to each other and represents typical obsequent drainage system. The Nandi Durg river system is a typical example for radial drainage pattern as the rivers, which springs in the hills flows in all directions. The rivers of the coastal plains are west-flowing. The Sharavati, the Kalinadi, the Netravati, the Varahi, the Bedti and the Aghanashini are most turbulent descending steep western slopes of the ghats during the monsoons, but almost trickle down drop-by drop admist thick forests during the rest of the year. All these rivers have considerable potential for hydel power generation. They rise in the Western Ghats and flow into the Arabian Sea. The Krishna and its tributaries such as the Ghataprabha, the Malaprabha, the Bhima and the Tungabhadra rivers, drain the Northern maidan. It is an extensive plateau with an average elevation of 610m. The Krishna is the economic life-blood of the northern maidan. The southern maidan on the other hand has a rolling topography, drained by the Cauvery, the North Pennar, the Palar and the south Pennar of which the Cauvery rises in the Western Ghats while the small other three rise in Nandidurga hill ranges in Chikaballapur district. All these rivers flow easterwards into the bay of Bengal. Watershed: The main water divide of the state is the crest line of the western ghats. It run from north to south. However the source of some westbound rivers lies to the east of the crest, indicating headward erosion and river capture. These are the ideal locations for eastward diversion of water particularly Netravati and Gangavalli, Bedti. © www.NammaKPSC.com 38  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA A line drawn east from Ballalarayanadurga to Nandidurga separates the Krishna and the Cauvery basins then south to Anekal with another line from Devarayanadurga north to Pavagada would indicate approximately the watershed separating the river basins of the Dakshina Pinkini (South Pennar), and the Uttara Pinakini (North Pennar). From the north of this ridge flow the Tunga and the Bhadra, rising in the Western Ghats and uniting to form the Tungabhadra. The Hagari or the Vedavati joins the Krishna beyond the limits of Karnataka between Kurnool and Srisailam. Form the South of the line, the Hemavati (with its affluent the Yagachi), the Lokapavni, the Shimsha and the Arkavati flow into the Cauvery. It also receives on the right bank the Lakshmana tirtha, the the Gundal, the Kabini, the Honnuhole or Suvaranavati and the Thattihalla before leaving the state. Three main streams spring from neighborhood of Nanidurga, the Pennar (the Uttar Pinakini with its tributaries, the Chitravati and the Papagni) discharges into the Bay of Bengal at Nellore; Ponnaiyar, the Dakshina Pinakini, which ends its coure at Cuddalore; and between them the Palar rising in the Nandidurga flows eastwards, whose mouth is at Chennai. A continuation of the east and west line through Nandidurga to Sunnakal will mark the water-parting between the first and the other two, which again are divided by a line passing from Jangamakote to Bangarpet and the Byatarayana Hills. Estimated % of total Catchment average Sl.No. Name of the Basin area of the TMC area Sq.km. flow in M state cum 1. Krishna 113271 59.06 27500 966.7 2. Godavari 4405 2.30 1400 49.2 3. Cauvery 34273 17.87 11000 386.7 4. West-flowing 26214 13.68 57000 2003.7 rivers 5. North Pennar 6. South Pennar 13610 7.09 900 31.7 7. Palar Total 191773 100 97800 3438 © www.NammaKPSC.com 39  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA River Basins There are seven river basins which drain the state. The total catchment area of these rivers in 1,91,773 sq km and the estimated average flow is 97800 M cum or 3438 TMC. About nearly seventy seven percent of the geographical area of the state is drained by the Krishna and the Cauvery rivers basins. The Krishna Basin: The Krishna basin is the largest in the state. Its basin is extending over 2,59,000 sq km is spread over three states viz., Maharashtra Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. About 43.74 percent of the basin area lies in Karnataka, 26.81 percent in Maharashta and 29.45 percent in Tenlangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Krishna rises in the Western Ghats just north of Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra, flows eastwards across the entire width of the peninsula through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to empty itself into the Bay of Bengal at Nizam Patnam. Its course for 483 km lies in Karnataka State. Its major tributaries are the Bhima, the Koyna and Panchaganga, the Dudhganga, the Tungabhadra, the Hiranyakeshi, the Ghataprabha and the Malaprabha. © www.NammaKPSC.com 40  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Except for the Koyna and the Panchaganga (barring 3 km along the state boundary), all these tributary rivers flow through Karnataka state. The Tungabhadra which has a drainage area of 66237 sq km is the largest and the most important of the Krishna’s tributaries. Nearly 60 percent of the area of the state lies in the Krishna basin and covers almost 16 districts in the state. In Karnataka there are two major dams across the river Krishna. These are Alamatti dam forming Lal Bahadur Shastri reservoir and Narayanapur dam which has formed ‘Basava Sagar’. Both of these are known as Upper Krishna Projects (UKP). Tributaries of Krishna River Right bank: the Ghatprabha, the Malprabha and the Tungabhadra. Left Bank: the Bhima, the Musi and the Munneru. The Koyna is a small tributary but is known for Koyna Dam. This dam was perhaps the main cause of the devastating earthquake (6.4 on richter scale) in 1967 that killed 150 people. The Bhima originates from the Matheron Hills and joins the Krishna near Raichur after for a distance of 861 km. The Tungabhadra is formed by the unification of the Tunga and the Bhadra originating from Gangamula in the Central Sahyadri. Its total length is 531 km. At Wazirabad, it receives its last important tributary, the Musi, on whose banks the city of Hyderabad is located. The Tungabhadra- The Tungabhadra is the most important tributary of the Krishna. It is formed north of Shivamogga, by the union of the twin Rivers, the Tunga and the Bhadra, which rise in the Western Ghats at Gangamula. The united river Tungabhadra flows for nearly 53km in a general north- easterly direction, through the central part of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and joins the Krishna, beyond Kurnool. Among the tributaries of the Tungabhadra the Varada River is important. The Tungabhadra has a drainage area of 71417sqk out of which the catchment area in the state is 57671 sq km. © www.NammaKPSC.com 41  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA The Cauvery Basin It is the most important river of south Karnataka. The Cauvery basin extending over 81,155 sq km is shared by three states viz., Karnataka, Kerala and Tamilnadu. A basin area of 42.2 percent lies in Karnataka, 3.5 percent in Kerala and 54.3 percent in Tamilnadu. The river Cauvery has its origin in the Western Ghats in Kodagu district. Before it empties itself into the Bay of Bengal, it flows for a length of 804 km through the states of Karnataka and Tamilnadu. T he river forms the boundary between these states for a length of 64 km. Of its total length, 320 km lies in Karnataka. Its major tributaries in Karnataka are the Hemavati, the Lakshmana thritha, the Haragni, the Kabini, the Suvarnavati, the Lokapavni, the Shimsha and Arkavati. The area of the basin in Karnataka state is 34723 sq km The major contributions are from catchment areas in the districts of Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Hassan. The Cauvery basin covers 18% of the state comprising nine distrists; © www.NammaKPSC.com 42  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA The river Cauvery is famous for its traditional sanctity, its picturesque and its utility for irrigation. It is optly known as Dakshina Ganga or the Ganges of the south’ and the whole of its course is holy. The river rises at Tala Cauvery in the Brahmagiri hills of Kodagu district of Karnataka at an height of 1855 meters. It flows in a generally south – east direction across the plateau of Karnataka and finally drains into the Bay of Bengal in Tamilnadu. There are a number of falls, rapids in the bed of the river and its forms three well-known islands Srirangapatna, Shivanasamudram and Srirangam. Shivanasamudram is famous for the site of the first major hydro-electric project constructed in Asia (1902). Not far from Srirangapatna, and upstream of it, is the Kannambadi or Krishnarajasagara Dam with the beautiful Brindavan gardens immediately down stream of it. From about 50 km below the power house at Shivanasamudram, the Cauvery river forms the boundary between Karnataka and Tamilnadu for 64m, At the end the Cauvery enters Tamilnadu where the Mettur reservoir was built. Three important falls along the course of the river are the Chunchanakate falls, the Shivanasamudram falls and the Hogenakal falls. Tributaries of the Cauvery River Left Bank: the Harangi, the Hemavati, the Shimsha and the Arkavati. Right Bank: Lakshmantirtha, the Kabbani, the Suvarnavati, the Bhavani, the Noyil and the Amaravati joins from right. The river descends from the South Karnataka Plateau to the Tamil Nadu Plains through the Sivasamudram waterfalls (101 m high). At Shivanasamudram, the river branches off into two parts and falls through a height of 91 m. in a series of falls and rapids. The falls at this point is utilized for power generation by the power station at Shivanasamudram. The two branches of the river join after the fall and flow through a wide gorge which is known as ‘Mekedatu’ (Goats leap) and continues its journey to form the boundary between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu States for a distance of 64 km. © www.NammaKPSC.com 43  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA At Hogennekkal Falls, it takes Southerly direction and enters the Mettur Reservoir. A tributary called Bhavani joins Cauvery on the Right bank about 45 Kms below Mettur Reservoir. Thereafter it enters the plains of Tamil Nadu. Two more tributaries Noyil and Amaravathi join on the right bank and here the river widens with sandy bed and flows as ‘Akhanda Cauvery’. Immediately after crossing Tiruchirapalli district, the river divides into two parts, the Northern branch being called ‘The Coleron’ and Southern branch remains as Cauvery and from here the Cauvery Delta begins. After flowing for about 16 Kms, the two branches join again to form ‘Srirangam Island’. On the Cauvery branch lies the "Grand Anicut" said to have been constructed by a Chola King in 1st Century A.D. Below the Grand Anicut, the Cauvery branch splits into two, Cauvery and Vennar. These branches divide and sub-divide into small branches and form a network all over the delta. Godavari Basin A major part of the Bidaar district lies in the basin of the Manjra, a tributary of the Godavari. Its catchment area in Karnataka state is 4405 sq km. The basin of the river lies in a rainfall zone of 80-100cm. The Manjra: the river Manjra is one of the major of tributaries of the Godavari river.It rises from Balaghat range of hills in Bhir district of Maharashtra State at an altitude of 823 m. The river flows through the © www.NammaKPSC.com 44  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA Osmanabad district of Maharashtra, the Bidar district of Karnataka. The Karanja: The Karanja river is one the Principal tributaries of the manjra, flowing inBidar district of Karnataka state. It rises near Khir village in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh at an altitude of about 670m. After flowing in Andhra Pradesh, it forms the boundary between Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka for nearly 16 kms. It flows in Karnataka from east west opposite to the direction of the main river and thus it is a typical example of obsequent river system. It joins Manja at Naradasangam. The Pennar and Palar Basins The North Pennar, the South Pennar and the Palar rivers drains Tumakuru, Chikkaballapura, Bengaluru, Ramanagara, Kolar districts. It is also described Nanidurg drainage system. As the rivers raises in Nanidurg, it flows in different directions. it is a best example for radial drainage pattern. The Pennar rises in the Chenna Kasava hill of the Nandidurg range, in Chikkaballapura district of Karnataka and flows towards east eventually draining into the Bay of Bengal. The total length of the river from origin to its outfall in the Bay of Bengal is 597 km. Located in peninsular India, the Pennar basin extends over states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka having an area of ~55 thousand Sq.km © www.NammaKPSC.com 45  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA The Uttara Pinakini: An inter-state river, the Uttara Pinakini, flowing in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh rises in the Chennakeshava hill of the Nandidruga range in Karnataka. It is known as ‘Pennar in its lower reaches and is the fourth largest river of the Penisula. Flowing in a northern-westerly direction through Chikkaballapura and Tumakuru districts for a distance of 48 km it enters Andhra Pradesh. After flowing for 67 km through the Hindupur and Penukond taluks of Anantapur district the river re-enters Karnataka and cuts across the Pavagada taluk of Tumakuru district for a distance of 13 km to emerge into Kalyanadurga taluk of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh. The total length of the river from its source to the Bay of Bengal is 597 km out of which 61 km is in Karnataka. The principal tributaries of the river in Karnataka are the Jayamangali in Tumakuru district the Chitravati and Papaghni in Chikkaballapura district. Out of the total drainage area of 55213 sq km it drains 6937 sqkm is in Karnataka. The Dakshina Pinakini : Another inter-state river, the Dakshina Pinakini flowing in Karnataka and Tamilnadu and Union Territory of Pondichery, rises near Harveshetty halli village in Kolar district at an elevation of about 900 m in the hill ranges of Nandidurga. After flowing for a distance of 79 km in Kolar and Bengaluru districts it enters Tamilnadu where it is known as ‘Ponnaiyar. It joins Bay of Bengal near Cuddalore. The Palar: Flowing in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnad, the Palar river rises beyond Talagavara village in Kolar district at an elevation of 900 m in the hill ranges of Nandidurga. After flowing in a generally south-easterly direction for a length of 93 km in Kolar district, it enters Andhra Pradesh and joins the Bay of Bengal. © www.NammaKPSC.com 46  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA The West flowing Rivers There are numerous west-flowing rivers, which together accounts for large amount of surface water resources of the state, chief among which are the Sharavati, the Kali, the Gangavali-Bedti, the Aghanashini and the Netravati which rise on the Western Ghats and drain into the Arabian Sea through the district of Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada. A small part of the catchment area of these rivers lies even in Dharawada, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Belagavi, and Kodagu districts also. The total catchment area of the west-flowing rivers is 26214 sq km and their average annual flow is 57000M cum or 2003. 7 TMC. The basin of these rivers comes under the direct influence of the south- west monsoon and receives heavy and assured rainfall between June and August. The west flowing rivers are best examples for parallel drainage system. The river Kali is in the extreme north, whereas Netravati is in the South of the system. The Netravati: The Netravati is the important southern most west flowing river in Dakshina Kannada district with a total length of 96 km and catchment area of 3355 sq km. It takes its birth near Ballalarayana Durga in Dakshina Kannada district legendarily known as Varaha. The main tributaries of the Netravati are the Neriyahole, the Kumaradhara, the Belthanagadihole and the Shishilahole. It joins the Arabian Sea in the vicinity of Mangaluru. The Kali: The Kali, a major west flowing river takes origin near Bidi Village of the Western Ghats of Uttara Kannada district. With a catchment area of 4841 sq km it joins the Arabian sea at Karwar after covering a total length of 184 km. As the river flows through black rocks, the river appears black and the name of Kali (Black) is derived. © www.NammaKPSC.com 47  GEOGRAPHY OF KARNATAKA The Major tributaries of this river are the Pandari, the Tattihall, The Kaneri Nagi and the Vaki The Sharavati: The river Sharavati takes its origin in the Western Ghats near Ambutirtha in Tirthahalli taluk of Shivamogga district. Its length is about 128 km and has a drainage area of 2771 sq km. The river drops to a vertical fall of about 253 m near jog which is world famous. The Hydro-Electric Projects, of the Sharavati basin is the major contribution for the hydro power generation in Karnataka. It joins the Arabian sea at Honnavar in Utta