Geography NCERT Notes | Class 11th – Book 1

Chapter 1 – India: Location

Introduction
• India's mainland extends from Kashmir (North) to Kanyakumari (South) and
Arunachal Pradesh (East) to Gujarat (West).
• India's territorial limit extends towards the sea up to 12 nautical miles (about 21
km) from the coast.
• India's southern boundary extends up to 6°45'N latitude in the Bay of Bengal.
• North to South extremity - 3214 km. East to West extremity - 2933 km.
• India's southern part lies within the tropics.
• India's northern part lies in the subtropical zone or the warm temperate zone.
• Total area - 3.28 million sq km.
• India accounts for 2.4% of the world's land surface area.
• It is the 7th largest country in the world.

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 Indian Standard Time
• It is ahead of Greenwich Mean Time by 5 hours and 30 minutes.
• 82°30' E longitude has been selected as the standard meridian of India.

Size
• Great physical diversity with lofty mountains in the north, large rivers such as
Ganga, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Krishna, Godavari and Kaveri; forested hills in
northeast and south and vast sandy expanse of Marusthali.
• Indian Subcontinent is surrounded by Himalayas in the north, Hindukush and
Sulaiman ranges in the north-west, Purvanchal hills in the northeast and large
expanse of Indian ocean in the south.
• Peninsular part of India extends towards the Indian Ocean.
• India has a coastline of 6,100 km in the mainland and 7.517 km in the entire
geographical coast with island groups.

India and Its Neighbors

• India is located in the south-central part of Asia, bordering the Indian ocean and
its two arms – Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea.
• Sri Lanka and Maldives are 2 island countries located in the Indian Ocean.
• Sri Lanka is separated from India by the Gulf of Mannan and Palk Strait.

Chapter 2 - Structure and Physiography

Introduction
• The earth is approx. 460 million years old.
• Northward movement of the Indian plate is still continuing, with significant
consequences on the physical environment of the Indian subcontinent.
• India's geological regions broadly follow these physical features
▪ Peninsular Block.
▪ Himalayas and other Peninsular Mountains.
▪ Indo-Ganga-Brahmaputra Plain.

The Peninsular Block

• Northern boundary of peninsular block is an irregular line, running from Kachchh
along the western blank of the Aravali range near Delhi, then roughly parallel to
the Yamuna and the Ganga as far as the Rajmahal Hills and the Ganga Delta.

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• Karbi Anglong and Meghalaya Plateau in the north-east and Rajasthan in the
west are also extensions of Peninsular block.
• North-eastern parts are separated from Chotanagpur Plateau by Malda fault in
west Bengal.
• Peninsula is formed essentially by a great complex of very ancient gneisses and
granites, and constitutes a major part.
• Since the Cambrian period, it has been standing like a rigid block.
• Peninsular block is a part of the Indo-Australian Plate.
• It mostly consists of relict and residual mountains like Aravali hills, Nallamala
hills, the Javadi hills, etc.

The Himalayas and other Peninsular Mountains

• These are young, weak and Flexible geological structures.
• They are still subjected to interplay of exogenic and endogenic forces, resulting
in the development of faults, folds and thrust plains.
• These are tectonic in origin, dissected by fast-blowing rivers, which are in their
youthful stage.

Indo-Ganga-Brahmaputra Plain
• 3rd geological division of India comprises plains formed by river Indus, Ganga
and Brahmaputra.
• Originally, it was a geo-synclinal depression which attained its maximum
development during the third phase of Himalayan Mountain formation approx 64
million years ago.
• Gradually filled by sediments brought by Himalayan and Peninsular rivers.
• 1000-2000 m average depth of alluvial deposits.

The North and Northeastern Mountains

• Consist of Himalayas and Northeastern hills.
• Himalayas consist of a series of parallel mountain ranges.
• Important ranges -
• Greater Himalayan range: includes Great Himalayas and Shiwalik.
• General orientation is from northwest to southeast direction in the north western
part of India.
• Himalayas in the Darjeeling and Sikkim regions lies in an east-west direction,
while in Arunachal Pradesh, it is from Southwest to northwest direction. In
Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, Himalayas are in north south direction.
• Approx length - 2.500 km from east to west. width varies between 160-400 km.

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• Stand almost like a strong and long wall between the Indian subcontinent and the
Central and East Asian countries.
• The Himalayas also acts as a climate, drainage and cultural divide.
• Himalayas can be divided into the following subdivisions:

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 Kashmir or Northwestern Himalayas
• Comprise a series of ranges such as Karakoram, Ladakh. Zaskar and Pir Panjal.
• Northeastern part is a cold desert which lies between Greater Himalayas and
Karakoram ranges.
• Dal Lake and Valley of Kashmir - lies between great Himalayas and Pin Panjal
range.
• It is also famous for Karewa formations.
• Important passes include – Zoji La (Great Himalayas), Banihal (Pir Panjal), Photu
La (Zaskar) and Khardung La (Ladakh).
• Important fresh lakes include Dal and Wular Lake.
• Important salt water lakes are Pangong Tso and Tso Moriri.
• Drained by Indus River and its tributaries - Jhelum and Chenab.
▪ Famous pilgrims located here are – Vaishno Devi, Amarnath Cave and Charar-e-
Sharif.
• Srinagar is located on the bank of Jhelum.
• Southernmost part consists of longitudinal valleys, known as 'Duns'. Example-
Jammu dun and Pathankot dun.

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 Himachal and Uttarakhand Himalayas
• Lies approximately between Ravi in the west and Kali in the east.
• Drained by the Indus and Ganga River systems.
• the northernmost part is an extension of Ladakh cold desert.
• All 3 Himalayan regions are prominent in this section.
• Altitude between 1000-2000 m contains important hill stations like Dharamshala,
Mussorie, Shimla, Kosani and the cantonment towns with health resorts.
• Two distinguishing features of the region are Shiwalik and Dun formations.
• important duns include – Chandigarh-Kalka dun, Nalagarh dun, Dehradun
(largest), Harike dun and the Kota dun.
• Mostly inhabited by the Bhotia's nomadic group.
• Also known to have the five famous Prayags.

Darjiling and Sikkim Himalayas

• Blanked by Nepal Himalayas (west) and Bhutan Himalayas (east).
• Known for its fast-flowing rivers and deep valleys.
• Higher reaches are Inhabited by Lepcha tribes.

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• The southern part, particularly Darjiling Himalayas has a mixed population of
Nepalis, Bengalis and tribes from Central India.
• The British Introduced tea plantations here.
• These are conspicuous by the absence of the Shiwalik formations.
• Duar formations are important.

Arunachal Himalayas
• extends from east of the Bhutan Himalayas up to Diphu pass in the east.
• General direction is from southwest to northeast.
• Important mountain peaks – Kangtu and Namcha Barwa.
• Dissected by fast-flowing rivers from north to south, forming deep gorges.
• Brahmaputra flows through a deep gorge after crossing Namcha Barwa.
• important revers include – Kameng, Subansiri, Dihang, Dibang and Lohit.
• These are perennial rivers with a high rate of fall, having the highest hydro-
electric power potential.
• Numerous ethnic tribal communities Inhabit here, like Monpa, Abor, Mishmi,
Nyishi and Nagas.

Eastern Hills and Mountains

• These are part of Himalayan Mountain system having general alignment from
north to south direction.
• These are known by different local names-
▪ North- Patkai Bum, Naga Hills, Manipur Hills
▪ South- Mizo on Lushai Hills.
• Low hills, inhabited by numerous tribal groups.
• Ranges are separated from each other by numerous small rivers.
• Barak-Important River in Manipur and Mizoram.
• Loktak Lake is situated in Manipur.
• Mizoram- also known as 'Molassis basin' - made up of soft unconsolidated
deposits.
• Most of Nagaland's rivers form Brahmaputra's tributary.
• Two rivers of Mizoram and Manipur are the tributaries of Barak riven which is a
tributary of Meghna.
• Rivers in eastern part of Manipur are tributaries of Chindwin, which is in turn a
tributary of Irrawaddy of Myanmar.

The Northern Plains

• Formed by the alluvial deposits brought up by Indus, ganga and Brahmaputra.
• Extend approximately 3,200 km from east to west.

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• Average width varies between 150-300 km.
• Maximum depth of alluvial deposits varies between 1000-2000 m.
• 3 major zones (from North to South) -
• Bhabar –
o A narrow belt ranging between 8-10 km, parallel to the shiwalik foothills
at the break-up of the slope.
o Streams and rivers deposit heavy materials of rocks and boulders.

▪ Tarai belt –
o south of Bhabar.
o Approx. width - 10-20 kms. Most streams and rivers re-emerge without
having any properly demarcated channel, creating mashy and swampy
conditions.
o Luxurious growth of natural vegetation and houses a varied wildlife.

▪ Alluvial plains –
o south of Tarai.
o Old alluvial deposits - Bhangar.
o New alluvial deposits - Khadar.
o Have characteristic features of the mature stage of fluvial erosional
and depositional landforms. Brahmaputra plains are known for their
riverine islands and sandbars.
o Subjected to periodic floods and shifting river courses forming braided
streams.
o Mouths of mighty rivers form largest deltas of the world. Example -
Sundarbans delta.

The Peninsular Plateau

• Rising from height of 150m above the river plains up to an elevation of 600-900
m. Forms an irregular triangle.
• Boundary
▪ Northwest - Delhi ridge (extension of Aravalis).
▪ East- Rajmahal hills
▪ West- Gir range
▪ South-Cardamom hills
• Extension is also seen in northeast, in the form of Shillong and Karbi-Anglong
plateau.
• Peninsular India is made up of a series of patland plateaus such as Hazaribagh
plateau, Palamu plateau, Ranchi plateau, Malwa plateau, Coimbatore plateau
and Karnataka plateau.

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• One of the oldest and most stable landmass of India.
• General elevation - west to east.
• Important physiographic features include – tors, block mountains, rift valleys,
spurs, bare rocky mountains, series of hummocky hills and wall like quartzite
dykes.
• Has undergone recurrent phases of upliftment and submergence accompanied
by crustal faulting and fractures.
• Northwestern part has a complex relief of ravines and gorges.
• Divided into 3 broad groups -

The Deccan Plateau

• Boundary – western ghats in the west, eastern ghats in the east and Satpura,
Maikal and Mahadeo hills in the North.
• Local names of western ghats – Sahyadri in Maharashtra, Nilgiri in Karnataka
and Tamil Nadu, Anaimalai and Cardamom hills in Kerala.
• Western Ghats are comparatively higher in elevation with an average elevation of
about 1500-meter. The height increases from north to south.
• Anaimudi – highest peak of peninsular plateau (2695m), located on Anaimalai
hills of Western Ghats.
• Dodabetta – 2nd highest peak (2637m), located on Nilgiri hills.
• Most Peninsular rivers origin from western ghats.
• Eastern ghats – discontinuous and low hills.
• Important rivers of eastern ghats are – Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri.
• Important ranges include – Javadi hills, Palconda range, Nallamala hills and
Mahendragiri hills (highest peak).
• Eastern ghats and western Ghats meet each other at the Nilgiri Hills.

The Central Highlands

▪ Bounded by the Aravali range to the west and Rajmahal hills to the east. Large
reserves of mineral resources lies in Chotanagpur plateau which lies south to
Rajmahal hills.
▪ Satpura range formed by a series of scarped plateaus on the South, which forms
the northernmost boundary of Deccan plateau. It is a classic example of relict
mountains-highly denuded and form discontinuous ranges.
▪ Barchans- longitudinal sand ridges and crescent-shaped sand dunes.
▪ This region has undergone metamorphic processes in its geological history.
▪ General elevation is between 700-1000 m above mean sea level and it slopes
towards the north and north eastern directions.
▪ Most tributaries of Yamuna River originate from Vindhyan and Kaimur ranges.

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▪ Banas – a tributary of river Chambal which originates from Aravalli.

The Northeastern Plateau

• An extension of the main Peninsular plateau.
• Meghalaya and Karbi-Aanlong plateau stand detached from the main Peninsular
Block due to a fault.
• Sub-division of Meghalaya plateau
▪ Garo hills
▪ Khasi hius
▪ Jaintia hills
• Meghalaya and Chotanagpur plateaus are rich in mineral resources like coal, iron
one, sillimanite, Limestone etc.
• Receives maximum rainfall from the south west monsoon.

The Indian Desert

• Lies to the northwest of Aravali hills.
• A land of undulating topography dotted with longitudinal dunes and barchans.
• Receives low rainfall below 150 mm per year.
• It has arid climate with low vegetation cover.
• Also known as Marusthall.
• It is believed that it was under the sea during the Mesozoic era.
• Desert land features present here are – mushroom rocks, shifting dunes and
oasis.
▪ Can be divided into two parts on the basis of the orientation - Northern part is
sloping towards Sindh and the Southern part towards the Rann of Kachchh.
▪ Most rivers of this region are ephemeral.

The Coastal Plains

• India has a long coastline.
• Can be divided into two –
▪ Western coastal plains –
• An example of submerged coastal plains.
• Dwarka city, was once part of Indian mainland situated along the west
coast and is now submerged under water.
• It is a narrow belt and provides natural conditions for the development
of ports and harbours, because of this submergence.
• Important natural ports- Kandla, Mazagaon, JLN Post Navha Sheva,
Marmagao, Magalore and Cochin.

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 • Extending from Gujarat coast (north) to Kerala coast (south), it may be
divided as follows -
▪ Kachchh and Kathiawar coast- Gujarat.
▪ Konkan coast - Maharashtra.
▪ Goan and Malabar coast - Karnataka and Kerala.
• Narrow in the middle and get broader towards north and south.
• Flowing rivers do not form any delta.
• Famous Nehru Trophy Vallamkali (boat race) is held every year in
Punnamada Kayal in Kerala.

▪ Eastern coastal plains –

• Broader and an emergent coast.
• Well-developed deltas here, formed by east flowing rivers.
• Include deltas of Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri.
• Less number of ports and harbours. Continental shelf extends up to 500
km into the sea.

The Islands
• Two major island groups in India – one in Bay of Bengal and other in the
Arabian sea.

Islands in the Bay of Bengal

• 572 islands/islets.
• Situated roughly between 6°N-14°N and 92°E-94°E.
• Two principal groups of islets – Ritchie’s archipelago and Labrynth island.
• Divided into two categories – Andaman in the north and Nicobar in the south,
which are separated by ten-degree channel.
• It is an elevated portion of submarine mountains.
• Nicobar island contains Barren island – the only active volcano in India.
• Receive conventional rainfall with equatorial type of vegetation.

Islands in the Arabian Sea

• Include Lakshadweep and Minicoy.
• Scattered between 8°N-12°N and 71°E-74°E longitude.
• 280-480 km distance from Kerala coast.
• Entire island group is built of coral deposits.
• Out of total 36 islands - 11 are inhabited.
• Minicoy is the largest island- an area of 453 sq km.

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• Divided by Ten Degree channel north of which is the Amini Island and
Cannanore Island in the south.
• The islands have storm beaches.

Chapter 3 - Drainage System

• Drainage - flow of water through well-defined channels.

• Drainage System - network of well-defined water blowing channels.
• Catchment Area- a specific area from where the river collects water for
drainage.
• Drainage Basin - an area, drained by a river and its tributaries.
• Watershed - boundary line, separating one drainage basin from other.
• River Basin - catchments of large rivers.

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 Indian Drainage System
• On the basis of discharge of water -
▪ Arabian Sea drainage (separated from each other through Delhi ridge,
Aravalis and Sahyadris).
▪ Bay of Bengal drainage
• 77% drainage area consisting of Ganga, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Krishna-
oriented towards the Bay of Bengal.
• 23% drainage area comprising of Indus. Narmada, Tapi, Mahi and Periyar
systems discharge their waters in the Arabian Sea.
• On the basis of the size of watershed – 3 categories
▪ Major river basins – more than 20,000 sq km of catchment area. Includes 14
drainage basins.
▪ Medium river basins – catchment area between 2,000- 20,000 sq km.
Includes 44 river basins.
▪ Minor river basins – catchment area of less than 2,000 sq km. Include fairly
good number of rivers blowing in the area of low rainfall.

Drainage Systems of India

The Himalayan Drainage
• Evolved through a long geological history.
• Mainly includes ganga, Indus and Brahmaputra.
• Fed both by melting of snow and precipitation.
• These are Perennial rivers.
• Rivers pass through the giant gorges carved out by the erosional activity. Rivers
also form V-shaped valleys, rapids and waterfalls.
• Form blat valleys, ox-bow lakes, blood plains, braided channels and deltas near
river mouth; while entering into the plains.
• Highly tortous in the Himalayan reaches.
▪ River Kosi, also known as the sorrow of bihar, has been notorious for
frequently changing its course. It brings huge quantity of sediments from its
upper reaches and deposits it in the plains.

Evolution of the Himalayan Drainage

• Shiwalik or Indo-Brahma, a mighty river traversed the entire longitudinal extent of
the Himalayas from Assam to Punjab and onwards to Sind, and finally
discharged into Gulf of Sind near lower Punjab during the Miocene period some
5-24 million years ago.

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• Remarkable continuity of shiwalk and its lacustrine origin and alluvial deposits
consisting of sands, silt, clay, boulders and conglo -merates support this
viewpoint.
• Three main drainage systems were evolved –
▪ Indus and its five tributaries in the western part.
▪ Ganga and its Himalayan tributaries in the central part.
▪ Stretch of Brahmaputra in Assam and its Himalayan tributaries in eastern
part.
• Dismemberment was probably due to the Pleistocene upheaval in western
Himalayas.

The River System of the Himalayan drainage

The Indus System
• One of the largest river basins of the world. Covers an area of 11,65,000 sq km
(3,21,289 sq km in India).
• Also known as the Sindhu. Westernmost of Himalayan rivers in India.
• Originates from a glacier near Bokhar chu in Tibetan region in Kailash Mountain
range.
• Known as 'Singi Khamban' on 'Lion's mouth' in Tibet.
• Passes through Ladakh and Baltistan after flowing in the north-west direction
between Ladakh and Zaskar ranges.
• Enters into Pakistan near chilas in the Dardistan region.
• Himalayan Tributaries – Shyok, Gilgit, Zaskar, Hunza, Nubra, Shigar, Gasting
and Dras.
• Emerges out of the hills near Attock, where it receives the Kabul River on its right
bank.
• Right bank tributaries – Khurram, Tochi, Gomal, Viboa and Sangar.
• Flows southward and receives Panjnad a little above Mithankot.
• Panjnad – name given to the five rivers of Punjab – Satluj, Beas, Ravi, Chenab
and Jhelum.
• Discharges into the Arabian Sea, east of Karachi.
• Indus flows in India through only Jammu and Kashmir.
• The Jhelum
▪ Rises from a spring at Verinag, situated at the boot of Pir Panjal in south-
eastern part of Kashmir valley
▪ Flows through Srinagar and Wular lake before entering Pakistan.
▪ Joins Chenab near Jhang in Pakistan.
• The Chenab
▪ Largest tributary of Indus.

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 ▪ Forms by two streams - chandra and Bhaga.
▪ Joins at Tandi near Keylong in Himachal Pradesh.
▪ Also known as chandrabhaga.
▪ Flows for 1,180 km before entering into Pakistan.
• The Ravi
▪ Rises west of Rohtang pass in the Kullu hills of Himachal Pradesh.
▪ Flows through the Chamba volley.
▪ Joins Chenab near Sarai sidhu before entering into Pakistan.
▪ Drains the area lying between the south eastern part of Pir Panjal and
Dhauladhar ranges.
• The Beas
▪ Originates from the Beas Kund near Rohtang Pass.
▪ Flows through the Kullu valley.
▪ Forms gorges at Kati and Largi in Dhaoladhar range.
▪ Joins Sutlej near Harike before entering into Punjab plains.
• The Satluj
▪ Originates in the 'Raksas tal' near Mansarovar in Tibet.
▪ Known as Langehen Khambab in Tibet.
▪ Flows almost parallel to Indus for about 400 km before entering India.
▪ Passes through the Shipki La on Himalayan ranges and enters Punjab plains.
▪ An antecedent river.
▪ Feeds the canal system of the Bhakra Nangal project.

The Ganga System

• Most important river of India both from its basin and cultural significance.
• Rises in Gangotri glacier near Gaumukh in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand,
where it is also known as Bhagirathi.
• Cuts through the Central and the Lesser Himalayas in narrow gorges.
• Known as Ganga, after Bhagirathi meets Alakananda at Devprayag.
• Alakananda has its source in the Satopanth-glacier above Badrinath.
• Ganga enters the plains at Haridwar.
• Flows first to South, then to South-east and east before splitting into Bhagirathi
and Padma.
Total Length - 2525 km (Uttarakhand 110 km, Uttar Pradesh - 1,450 km, Bihar
445 km, and West Bengal - 520 km).
• Ganga basin covers about 8.6 lakh sq km.
• Largest river system with perennial and non-perennial rivers originating in
Himalayas in the north and Peninsular in the South.
• Yamuna and Son are the major right bank tributary.

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• Left bank tributaries – Ramganga, Gomati, Ghaghra, Gandak, Kosi and
Mahananda.
• Discharges into the Bay of Bengal near Sagar Island.

The Yamuna
• Western most and longest tributary of ganga.
• Source - Yamunotri glacier on western slopes of Banderpunch range.
• Joins ganga at Prayag (Allahabad).
• Right bank tributaries – Chambal, Sind, Betwa and ken which originates from
Peninsular plateau.
• Left bank tributaries – Hindan, Rind, Sengar and Varuna.
• Much of its water feeds the western and eastern Yamuna and Agra canals for
irrigation purposes.

The Chambal
• Rises near Mhow in Malwa plateau of Madhya Pradesh.
• Flows northwards through a gorge upwards of Kota in Rajasthan.
• From Kota, it traverses down to Bundl, Sawai Madhopur and Dholpur and finally
joins Yamuna.
• Famous for its badland topography, called "Chambal ravines”

The Gandak
• Comprises of two streams - Kaligandak and Trishulganga.
• Rises in Nepal Himalayas between Dhaulagirl and Mount Everest and drains
central part of Nepal.
• Enters the ganga plain in Champaran district of Bihar.
• Joins ganga at Sonpur near Patna.

The Ghaghara
• Originates in Mapchachunga glacier.
• Comes out of the mountain by cutting a deep gorge at Shishapani after collecting
waters from Tila, Seti and Beri.
• Sarda river joins it in the plain before it finally meets the ganga at Chhapra

The Kosi
• An antecedent river.
• Source - to the north of Mount Everest in Tibet.

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• Joined by Son Kosi from west and Tamur Kosi from east after crossing Central
Himalayas in Nepal.
• Forms Sapt Kosi after uniting with River Arun.

The Ramganga
• Small river, rising in garhwal hills near Gairsain.
• Changes its course to southwest direction after crossing shiwalk and enters into
the plains of Uttar Pradesh near Najibabad.
• Joins ganga near Kannauj.

The Damodar
• Occupies the eastern margins of Chotanagpur plateau.
• Flows through a rift valley and joins Hugli.
• Main tributary - Barakar.
• Once known as 'Sorrow of Bengal’.
• Tamed by the Damodar Valley corporation.

The Sarda on Saryu

• rises in the Milam glacier in Nepal Himalayas.
• also known as goriganga in Nepal Himalayas and Kali or Chauk in Indo-Nepal
border.
• Joins the ghaghara at Indo-Nepal border.

The Mahananda
• Rise in Darjiling hills
• joins Ganga in west Bengal.
• last left bank tributary of Ganga.

The Son
• large south bank tributary, originates in the Amarkantak.
• forms water balls at edge of Amarkantak plateau.
• Joins Ganga at Arrah, west of Patna.

The Brahmaputra System

• Originates in chemayungdung glacier of Kailash range-near Mansarowar lake.
• Traverses eastward longitudinally for 1,200 km in a dry and flat region of
Southern Tibet, known as Tsangpo (means "the Purifier”).

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 • Rango Tsangpo- major right bank tributary in Tibet - emerges as a turbulent and
dynamic river after carving out a deep gorge in Central Himalayas near Namcha
Barwa.
• Enters India west of Sadiya town in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Length 750 km (in India).
• Left bank tributaries - Burhi Dihing and Dhansiri.
• Right bank tributaries - Subansiri, kameng, Manas and Sankosh.
• Subansiri – an antecedent river, originating in Tibet.
• The Brahmaputra enters into Bangladesh near Dhubri and blows southward.
• Tista joins it on its right bank from where it is known as Jamuna.
• Finally merges with Padma and falls in Bay of Bengal.
• Brahmaputra is well known for bloods, channel shifting and bank erosion.

The Peninsular Drainage System

• Older than Himalayan Drainage system.
• Western Ghats running close to the western coast act as water divide between
major Peninsular rivers, discharging in Bay of Bengal.
• Rivers except Narmada and Tapi flow from west to east.
• Chambal, Sind, Betwa, Ken, Son originating in northern part of Peninsular
belong to ganga river system.
• Major river systems of Peninsular drainage – Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and
Kaveri.
• Rivers are characterised by fixed course, absence of meanders and non-
perennial flow of water.
• Narmada and Tapi - flow through the rift valley.

The Evolution of Peninsular Drainage System

• Shaped by three major geological events in distant past -
o Subsidence of western bank of Peninsula leading to its submergence
below the sea during early tertiary period.
o Upheaval of Himalayas subjected to subsidence and consequent trough
faulting.
o Slight tilting from northwest to southeastern direction gave orientation to
entire drainage system towards Bay of Bengal.
o

River systems of the Peninsular Drainage

The Mahanadi
• Rises near Sihawa in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh.

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• Runs through Odisha and discharges at Bay of Bengal.
• Total Length - 851 km.
• Catchment area over 1.42 lakh. sq km.

The Godavari
• Largest river of Peninsular River system, also called 'Dakshin ganga’.
• Rises in Nasik district of Maharashtra and discharges into Bay of Bengal.
• Length-1465 km
• Catchment area Over 3.13 lakh sq km.
• Tributaries Penganga, Indravati Pranhita and Manjra.
• Subjected to heavy floods in its lower reaches to south of Polavaram.

The Krishna
• 2nd largest east flowing peninsular river.
• Rises near Mahabaleshwar in Sahyadri. length 1.901 km
• Tributaries- koyna, Tungbhadra and Bhima

The Kaveri
• Rises in Brahmagiri hills of Kogadu district in Karnataka.
• Length-800 km
• Catchment area- 81,155 39 km.
• Upper catchment area receives rainfall during southwest monsoon season
(summer).
• Lower part receives rainfall during northeast monsoon season or winter.
• Tributaries- Kabini. Bhavani and Amravati.

The Narmada
• originates on western blank of Amarkantak plateau.
• flows through a rift valley between Satpura (south) and Vindhyan range (nonth).
• forms a picturesque gorge in marble rocks and Dhuandhar waterfall near
Jabalpur.
• length-1312 km.
• Meets Arabian Sea south of Bharuch, forming a 27 km long estuary

The Tapi
• West flowing river.
• Originates from Multai in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh.
• Length-724 km.
• Catchment area- 65,145 sq km.

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 The Luni
• Largest river system of Rajasthan, west of Aravali.
• Originates near Pushkar in two branches Saraswati and Sabarmati - join with
each other at govindgarh.
• Flows towards the west till Telwara.
• Discharges into Arabian Sea.
• An ephemeral river system.

Smaller Rivers flowing Towards the west

• The Shetruniji - rises near Dalkahwa in Amreli district.
• The Bhadra - originates near Aniali village in Rajkot district
• The Dhadhar - rises near ghantar village in Panchmahal district.
• Sabarmati and Mahi-famous rivers of Gujrat
• The Vaitarna - rises from Trimbak hills in Nasik district.
• The Kalinadi - rises from Belgaum district, falls in Karwar Bay.
• The Bedti- rises from Hubli Dhanwar. It has a length of 161 km
• The Sharavati- flowing towards the west, originates in shimoga district.
(Karnataka). Has a catchment area of 2.209 sq km.
• Mandovi and Juari - two important river of goa.
• The Bharathapuzha - longest river of Kerala, rises near Annamalal hills, also
known as Ponnani. It has a catchment area of 5.397 sq km.
• The Periyar- 2nd largest river of Kerala with catchment area of 5,243 sq km.
• The Pamba - falls in Vemobanad lake. It has a length of 177 km.

Small Rivers Flowing towards the East to Join Bay of Bengal

River Catchment Area
Subarnarekha 19,296 sq km
Baitarni 12,789 sq km
Brahmani 39,033 sq km
Penner 55,213 sq km
Palar 17,870 sq km

River Regimes
• River Regime-pattern of flow of water in a river channel over a year.
• North Indian rivers originating from Himalayas are perennial, fed by glaciers
through snow melt and receive rainfall water during rainy season.
• South Indian rivers do not originate from glaciers and their flow pattern witnesses
fluctuations.

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• Discharge volume of water flowing in a river is measured by cusecs on cumecs.

Chapter 4 – Climate

Unity and Diversity in the Monsoon climate

• Monsoon regime emphasises the unity of India with the rest of the southeast
Asian region.
• India's climate has many regional variations expressed in the pattern of winds,
temperature and rainfall, rhythm of seasons and the degree of wetness and
dryness.
• Cherrapunji and Mawsynram in Khasi hills of Meghalaya receives rainfall over
1080 cm in a year.
• Jaisalmer in Rajasthan rarely receives more than 9 cm of rainfall in a year.

Factors Determining the climate of India

Factors related to Location and Relief
Latitude
▪ The Tropic of Cancer passes through the central part of India in east -west
direction.
▪ Northern part lies in a sub-tropical and temperate zone.
▪ Southern part lies in the tropical zone.
▪ Tropical zone - nearer to equator - experiences high temperatures throughout
the year.
▪ Northern part - away from the equator - experiences extreme climate with
high daily and annual range of temperature.

The Himalayan Mountains

▪ Lies in the north of India.
▪ Provides an invincible shield to protect from cold northern winds.
▪ Trap the monsoon winds, forcing them to shed their moisture within the
subcontinent.

Distribution Land and Water

• India is flanked by Indian Ocean in the south and girdled by high and
continuous mountain-walls in the North.
• Water heats up or cools down slowly, thus creating different air pressure
zones in different seasons.

21
 Distance from the sea
• Large coastal areas have an equable climate.
• Interior areas are far away from moderating influence of the sea, thus they
have extreme climate.

Altitude
• Lower altitude areas experience high temperature, and higher altitude areas
experience low temperature.
• Temperature decreases with height.

Relief
• Affects the temperature, air pressure, direction and speed of wind and
amount and distribution of rainfall.
• Windward sides of Western Ghats and Assam receive high rainfall during
June-September.

Factors Related to Air Pressure and wind

In order to understand the differences in local climates of India, we need to
understand the mechanism of following three factors:
• Distribution of air pressure and winds on surface of the earth.
• Upper air circulation caused by factors controlling global weather and inflows of
different air masses and jet streams.
• Inflow of western cyclones - creating weather conditions favourable to rainfall.

Mechanism of weather in the winter Season

Surface Pressure and winds

• In winter months, a high pressure centre in the region lying to north of Himalayas
develops.
• This gives rise to flow of air at low level from north towards Indian subcontinent,
south of mountain range.
• Surface winds blowing out of high pressure centre over Central Asia reach India
in the form of a dry continental air mass.

(NEXT PAGE)

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 Jet stream and Upper Air Circulation:
• Variations in atmospheric pressure closer to the surface of earth have no role to
play in making of upper air circulation.
• All of western and Central Asia remains under influence of westerly winds along
altitude of 9-13 km from west to east. These winds flow across the Asian
continent at latitudes north of Himalayas roughly parallel to Tibetan highlands-
known as jet streams.

Western Cyclonic Disturbance and Tropical Cyclones

• These enter the Indian sub-continent from west and north-west during winter
months, originate over the Mediterranean Sea and are brought into India by
westerly jet stream.
• Tropical cyclones originate over the Bay of Bengal and Indian ocean.
• They have very high wind velocity and heavy rainfall and hit Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh and Orissa coast.
• Most are very destructive due to high wind velocity and torrential rain that
accompanies it.

Mechanism of Weather in the Summer Season

Surface Pressure and Winds
• As summer sets in and sun shifts northwards, the wind circulation undergoes
changes.

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• By the middle of July, low pressure belt nearer the surface (termed as Inter-
Tropical Convergence Zone, ITCZ) shifts northwards, roughly parallel to
Himalayas between 20° N and 25 N. Westerly jet stream withdraws from Indian
region by this time.
• It is generally believed that there is a cause and effect relationship between the
two.
• ITCZ being a zone of low pressure, attracts inflow of winds from different
directions.
• Maritime tropical airmass (mT) from the southern hemisphere, after crossing the
equator, rushes to low pressure area in general south-westerly direction. This is
popularly known as 'Southwest monsoon’.

Jet Streams and Upper Air Circulation

• An easterly jet stream flows over the southern part of Peninsula in June and has
a maximum speed of 90 km per hour.
• In August, it is confined to 15°N latitude and in September up to 22°N latitudes.
• Easterlies normally do not extend to north of 30°N latitude in the upper
atmosphere.

Easterly Jet Stream and Tropical Cyclones

• Steers the tropical depressions into India and play a significant role in distribution
of monsoon rainfall over Indian subcontinent.

The Nature of Indian Monsoon

Onset of the Monsoon
• In late 19th century, the differential heating of land and sea during summer
months was believed to set the stage for monsoon winds to drift towards the
subcontinent.
• When the sun shines vertically over the Tropic of Cancer during April and May,
large landmass in the north of Indian ocean gets intensely heated.
• This causes formation of an intense low pressure in the north - western part of
the sub-continent.
• As pressure in the Indian Ocean south of landmass is high, water gets heated
slowly, the low pressure cell attracts south - east trades across Equator. This
helps in northward shift in position of ITCZ.
• The winds cross Equator between 40°E and 60° E longitudes.
• Shift of ITCZ is also related to withdrawal of westerly jet stream from its position
over north Indian plain, south of Himalayas.

24
 Entry of Monsoon into India
• Southwest monsoon sets in over Kerala coast by 1st June and moves swiftly to
reach Mumbai and Kolkata between 10th and 13th June.
• Engulfs the entire subcontinent by mid-July.

Rain-bearing Systems and Rainfall Distribution

• There are two rain-bearing systems in India. First originates in Bay of Bengal
causing rainfall even plains over of north India. The Arabian Sea current of south-
west monsoon brings rain to west coast of India.

Break in the Monsoon

• During south-west monsoon period after having rains for a few days, if rain fails
to occur for one or more weeks known as break in monsoon. These dry spells
are quite common during the rainy season.

25
• Reasons of break -
o Rain-bearing storms are not very frequent along monsoon through on
ITCZ over northern India region.
o Dry spells are associated with days over west coast when winds blow
parallel to the coast.

The Rhythm of seasons

• Climatic conditions of India can best be described in terms of an annual cycle of
seasons. The meteorologists recognise the following four seasons – a) Cold
weather seasons, b) Hot weather seasons, c) South-west monsoon season and
d) Retreating monsoon season.

The Cold Weather Season

Temperature
• Sets in by mid-November in northern India
• December and January - coldest months in the northern plain.
• Three main reasons for excessive cold in north India
o States like Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan being far away from
moderating influence of sea experience continental climate.
o Snowfall in nearby Himalayan ranges creates a cold wave situation.
o Around February, cold winds coming from Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan
bring cold waves along with frost and fog over north-western parts of
India.
• Peninsular region of India - does not have any well-defined cold weather season.
• Hardly any seasonal change in distribution pattern of Temperature in coastal
areas because of moderating influence of sea and proximity to equator.

Pressure and winds

• Sun shines vertically over the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere by
the end of December (22nd December).
• Weather is characterised by feeble high pressure conditions over the northern
plain, which is respectively lower in the south.
• Winds start blowing from the northwestern high pressure zone to the low air
pressure zone over the Indian ocean in the south.
• Due to low pressure gradient, light winds with a low velocity of about 3-5 kmph
begin to blow outwards. Wind direction of Westerly or northwesterly down Ganga
Valley become northerly in Ganga-Brahmaputra delta.
• Pleasant weather conditions in winter get disturbed by shallow cyclonic
depressions originating over east Mediterranean sea and travelling eastwards
across West Asia, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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• Moisture content gets augmented from the Caspian Sea in the north and Persian
Gulf in south.

Rainfall
• Winter monsoons do not cause rainfall as they move from land to sea. This is
because – a) they have little humidity, b) due to anti cyclonic circulation on land.
• Exceptions:
o In northwestern India, some weak temperate cyclones from the
Mediterranean sea cause rainfall in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and western
UP.
o Central parts of India and northern parts of peninsula also get winter
rainfall occasionally.
o Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in northeastern parts of India also have
rains between 25 mm and 50 mm during these winter months.
o During October and November, northeast monsoon while crossing over
Bay of Bengal, picks up moisture and causes Tamil Nadu coast, southern
Andhra Pradesh, southeast Karnataka and southeast Kerala.

The Hot Weather Season

Temperature
• Due to apparent movement of sun towards tropic of cancer, temperature starts
rising in north India.
• April, May and June - months of summer in north India.
• In most parts of India, temperatures recorded are between 30°-32° C.
• Mild and not so intense in south India. - oceans keeps the temperature lower -
between 26°C and 32°C.
• Temperature in hills of western Ghats remain below 25°C due to altitude.

Pressure and winds

• Summer months are a period of excessive heat and falling air pressure in the
northern half of the country.
• Roughly, this elongated low pressure monsoon trough extends over Than desert
in north-west to Patna and Chotanagpur plateau in east-southeast..
• Location of ITCZ attracts a surface circulation of south - westerly winds on west
coast, along coast of West Bengal and Bangladesh. They are easterly on south-
easterly over north Bengal and Bihar.
• Influx of these winds by mid-June brings about a change in weather towards the
rainy season.

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• In the heart of ITCZ in northwest, dry and hot winds 'Loo’ blow in the afternoon
and often continue to well into midnight.

The Southwest Monsoon season

• Due to high temperature, there are low pressure conditions to attract trade winds
of the Southern Hemisphere coming from the Indian Ocean.
• They cross the equator and enter Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea, only to be
caught up in air circulation over India.
• Rain begins rather abruptly brings down temperature substantially.
• This sudden onset of moisture-laden winds associated with violent thunder and
lightening is known as 'break' on 'burst' of monsoons.
• Monsoon approaches the landmass in two branches
o The Arabian Sea Branch,
o The Bay of Bengal Branch.

Monsoon winds of the Arabian Sea

Split into 3 branches
• One branch is obstructed by Western ghats. Winds climb slopes of western
Ghats from 900-1200 m, become cool and resultantly windward side of
Sahyadris and western coastal Plain receive very heavy rainfall ranging between
250 - 400 cm. After crossing, they descend and get heated up after crossing
Western Ghats.
• Another branch of Arabian sea monsoon strikes the coast north of Mumbai.
These winds cause rainfall in extensive areas of central India. Chotanagpur
plateau gets 15 cm rainfall. Thereafter, they enter Ganga plains and mingle with
Bay of Bengal branch.
• 3rd branch strikes Saurashtra Peninsula and Kachchh, passes over west
Rajasthan and along Aravalis, causing only a scanty rainfall. In Punjab and
Haryana, it joins Bay of Bengal branch. Reinforced by each other, they cause
rains in western Himalayas.

Monsoon winds of the Bay of Bengal

• Strikes coast of Myanmar and part of southeast Bangladesh, get deflected by
Arakan Hills along coast of Myanmar.
• Enters West Bengal and Bangladesh from south and south -east instead of from
south-westerly direction. It then splits into two under influence of Himalayas and
thermal low is northwest India.
• One branch moves westward along Ganga plains reaching as far as Punjab
plains.

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• Other branch moves up Brahmaputra valley in north and northeast, causing
widespread rains. Its sub-branch strikes Garo and Khasi hills of Meghalaya.
• Mawsynram - located on crest of Khasi hills - receives highest average annual
rainfall in the world.

Characteristics of Monsoonal Rainfall:

• Seasonal in character - occurs between June and September.
• Largely governed by relief or topography.
• Has a declining trend with increasing distance from sea.
• Occur in wet spells of few days duration at a time.
• Spatial distribution is uneven.

Season of Retreating Monsoon:

• Occurs in months of October and November.
• Monsoon retreats from western Rajasthan by 1st week of September - withdraws
from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Western Ganga plain and Central Highlands by end of
September.

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• Low pressure covers northern parts of Bay of Bengal by beginning of October
and moves over Karnataka and Tamil Nadu by early November.
• Centre of low pressure is completely removed from Peninsula by middle of
December.
• This season is marked by clear skies, rise in temperature and moist land.
• Owing to the conditions of high temperature and humidity, weather becomes
rather oppressive known as 'October heat'.
• October and November - rainiest months of the year.
• Widespread rain in this season is associated with passage of cyclonic
depressions - originate event Andaman Sea and manage to cross eastern coast
of the southern Peninsula. These are very destructive.

Distribution of Rainfall:
• Average annual rainfall - 125 cm.
• Areas of High Rainfall - Highest rainfall occurs along west coast, on western
Ghats and in sub-Himalayan areas is northeast and hills of Meghalaya, where

30
 rainfall exceeds 200 cm. Less than 200 cm rainfall occurs in Brahmaputra valley
and adjourning hills.
• Areas of Medium Rainfall- Rainfall between 100-200 cm in southern parts of
Gujarat, east Tamil Nadu, northeastern Peninsula covering Odisha, Jharkhand,
Bihar, eastern MP, northern Ganga plain along sub-Himalayas and Cachar
Valley and Manipur.
• Areas of Low Rainfall- Rainfall between 50-100 cm. in areas - western UP,
Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, J&K, eastern Rajasthan, Gujarat and Deccan Plateau.
• Areas of Inadequate Rainfall: Rainfall below 50 cm. Found in parts of
Peninsula, especially in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, Ladakh
and most of western Rajasthan.
• Snowfall - restricted to Himalayan region.

Variability of Rainfall
• It is computed with following formula:
C.V. = Standard Deviation X 100 / Mean

• Here, C.V. = coefficient of variation. The values of CV show change from mean
values of rainfall.

Climatic Regions of India

• Whole of India has a monsoon type of climate.
• A climatic region has a homogenous climatic condition which is result of a
combination of factors.
• Temperature and rainfall - two important elements, considered to be decisive in
all schemes of climatic classification.
• Koeppen based his schemes of climatic classification on monthly values of
temperature and precipitation identified 5 major climatic types
o Tropical climates - monthly temperature throughout the year is over
18°C.
o Dry climates - very low precipitation in comparison to temperature
o Warm temperate climates - mean temperature of coldest month is
between 18°C and minus 3°C.
o Cool temperate climates - mean temperature of warmest month is oven
10°C and minus 3°c in coldest month.
o Ice climates - mean temperature of warmest month is under 10°C.
• Koeppen used letter symbols to donate climatic types.
• Each type is further subdivided into subtypes on the basis of seasonal variations
in distributional pattern of rainfall and temperature.

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• S= semi-Arid; W = Arid; f = sufficient precipitation; m = rain forest despite a dry
monsoon season.; w = dry season in winter; h = dry and hot; c = less than 4
months with mean temperature over 10°C; g=Gangetic plain.
• He divided India into 8 climatic regions

Types of Climatic regions in India

1. Amw - Monsoon with short day season west coast of India south of Goa.
2. As-Monsoon with dry summer - Coromandel crust of Tamil Nadu.
3. Aw-Tropical savannah - Most of Peninsular plateau, south of Tropic of Cancer
4. Bwhw - Semi Arid steppe climate - North-western Gujarat, parts of western
Rajasthan and Punjab.
5. Bwhw- Hot desert - Extreme western Rajasthan.
6. Cwg - Monsoon with dry winter - Ganga plain eastern Rajasthan, north-eastern
MP and NE India.
7. Dfc - Cold humid winter with short summer - Arunachal Pradesh
8. E - Polar type. J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

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 Chapter 5 - Natural Vegetation

Types of Forests
1. Tropical Evergreen
• Found in western slope of western ghats, north-eastern hill regions and
Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• Found in warm and humid areas.
• well-stratified, with layers closer to the ground.
• Cover with shrubs and creepers.
• No definite time to shed leaves.

33
2. Tropical Deciduous forests
• Most widespread forest in India.
• Spread over regions which receive rainfall between 70-200 cm.
• Moist and Dry deciduous - on the basis of availability of water
a. Moist Deciduous Forest
• Found in the areas that receive rainfall between 100-200 cm.
• Found in north-eastern states, foothills of Himalayas, eastern slopes of
western Ghats and Odisha.
• Teak, Sal, Shisham etc., are prominent
b. Dry Deciduous forests
• Found in areas that receive rainfall between 70-100 cm.
• On wetter margins it has moist deciduous forests and on drier margins, it
has thorn forests.
• Found in rainier areas of Peninsula and plains of UP and Bihar.
• These have parkland landscape with open stretches interspersed with
patches of grass are common in higher rainfall regions of Peninsular
plateau and northern Indian plain.
• Trees shed leaves completely during dry seasons.
• Western and southern part of Rajasthan–due to low rainfall and
overgrazing.

3. Tropical Thorn Forests

• Occur in areas that receive rainfall less than 50 cm.
• Consist of a variety of grasses and shrubs.
• Include semi-arid areas of south west Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, MP and UP.
• Plants remain leafless for most part of the year.
• Tussocky grass grows up to a height of 2m as the under growth.

4. Montane Forests
• Decrease in temperature with increasing altitude in mountainous areas leads to
change in natural vegetation.
• Two types-
I. Northern Mountain.
o From tropical to tundra, Himalayan ranges show a succession.
o Deciduous forests are found at foothills of Himalayas, succeeded by wet
temperate type of forests between an altitude of 1000-2000 m.
o Hilly areas of West Bengal and Uttaranchal (1,500-1750 m) - pine forests.
o Chin Pine – very useful commercial tree.

34
 o Deodar – highly valued endemic species, grows in western Himalayan
range.
o Blue Pine- appear at altitudes of 2,225-3,048 m.
o Silver firs, junipers, pines, birch and rhododendrons – occur between
3000-4000 m.
o Tribes- Gujjars, Bakarwals, Bhotiyas and Gaddis.
o Southern Himalaya - carry a thicker vegetation.
o Mosses and lichens at higher altitudes - part of Tundra vegetation.
II. Southern Mountain
o Found in Western Ghats, Vindhyas and Nilgiris of Peninsular India
o Closer to the tropics.
o Temperate vegetation is found in higher regions, and subtropical in lower
regions. Temperate forests are called sholas in Nilgiris, Anaimalai and
Palani hills.

5. Littoral and Swamp Forests

• India has a rich variety of wetland habitats.
• About 70% wetland - under paddy cultivation areas.
• Total area of wetland -3.9 million hectares.
• Chilika Lake (Odisha) and Keoladeo National Park (Bharatpur)-protected as
water bowl habitats under Convention of wetlands of International Importance
(Ramsar Convention).
• 8 wetland categories
1. Reservoirs of Deccan Plateau in South with lagoons and southern
2. west coast wetlands.
3. Vast saline expanses of Rajasthan, Gujarat and gulf of Kachchh.
4. Freshwater lakes and reservoirs from Gujarat eastwards through
Rajasthan. (Keoladeo National Park) and Madhya Pradesh.
5. Delta wetlands and lagoons of India's east coast (Chilika Lake).
6. Freshwater marshes of Gangetic Plain.
7. Floodplains of Brahmaputra, marshes and swamps in northeast hills and
Himalayan foothills.
8. Lakes and rivers of montane region of Kashmir and Ladakh.
9. Mangrove forest and other wetlands of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
10. Mangroves grow along the coasts in salt marshes, tidal creeks, mud flats
and estuaries.
• Mangrove forests spread over 6740 sq km (7%. of the world's total) in India.
• highly developed in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Sundarbans of West
Bengal.

35
 Forest Cover in India
• Covers 23.28% of total land area.
• Lakshadweep – 0% forest area.
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands - 86.93%
• Less than 10% forest area lies in north and northwestern India.
• States with 10-20% forest area - Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
• Northeastern states – more than 30%. forest area.

Forest Conservation
• Vital importance to survival and prosperity of humankind.
• GOI proposed to have a nation-wide forest conservation policy.
• India adopted a forest policy in 1952 and modified it in 1988.
• New Forest Policy, 1988
▪ Bringing 33% geographical areas under forest cover.
▪ Maintaining environmental stability and to restore forest with ecological
balance.
▪ Conserving the natural heritage of the country, biological diversity and genetic
pool.
▪ checks soil erosion, extension of desert lands and reduction of floods and
droughts. Increasing forest cover through social forestry and afforestation on
degraded land.
▪ Increasing productivity of forests and encourage substitution of wood.
▪ Creating a massive peoples movement involving women to encourage
planting trees, stop felling of trees that reduce pressure on existing forest.
• Steps initiated based on Forest Conservation Policy
▪ Social Forestry
o Means the management and protection of forests and afforestation on
barren lands with purpose of helping in environmental, social and rural
development.
o National Commission on Agriculture (1976)-classified social forestry into 3
categories
a) Urban forestry
b) Rural forestry
c) Farm forestry

• Urban forestry- pertains to raising and management of trees on public

and privately owned lands in and around urban centres.
• Rural forestry - lays emphasis on promotion of agro-forestry and
community forestry.

36
 • Agroforestry- raising of trees and agriculture crops on the same land
inclusive of waste patches. It combines forestry with agriculture.
• Community forestry - involves the raising of trees on public or
community land.
• aims at providing benefits to the community as a whole.
• provides a means under which the people of landless classes can
associate themselves in tree-raising.
• Farm Forestry - A term applied to the process under which farmers grow
trees for commercial and non-commercial purposes on their farm lands.

Wildlife
• Indian wildlife is a great natural heritage. About 4-5% of all known plant and
animal species on earth are found in India.
• Reasons of declining of wildlife
▪ Increasing manner of Industrial and technological advancement
▪ Land clearing for agriculture, human settlement, roads, mining, reservoirs etc.
▪ Pressure on forests mounted due to lopping for fodder and fuelwood and
removal of small timber by local people.
▪ Grazing by domestic cattle caused an adverse effect on wildlife and its
habitat.
▪ Hunting.
▪ Incidence of forest fire.

Wildlife Conservation in India

• Wildlife Act. 1972 - provides the main legal framework for conservation and
protection of wildlife in India.
• main objective –
▪ to provide protection to endangered species listed in schedule of the Act.
▪ to provide legal support to conservation areas classified as National parks.
comprehensively amended in 1991.
▪ making punishments more stringent.
▪ provisions for protection of specified plant species and conservation of
endangered species of wild animals.
• Man and Biosphere Programme. – collaboration of GOI and UNESCO.
• Project Tiger -1973; Project Elephant-1972

Project Tiger
• Implemented since 1973.
• Objectives-

37
 I. to ensure maintenance of viable population of tigers of India for scientific,
aesthetic, cultural and ecological values.
II. to preserve areas of biological importance as natural heritage for benefit,
education and enjoyment to people.
• launched in 9 tiger reserves ·16,339 sq km.

Project Elephant
• launched in 1992.
• Objectives-
I. to assist states having free ranging population of wild elephants.
II. ensuring long-term survival of identified viable populations of elephants in
their natural habitat.
• Implemented in 17 states.

Biosphere Reserves
• A unique and representative ecosystem of terrestrial and coastal areas,
internationally recognized within the framework of UNESCO'S Man and
Biosphere (MAB) Programme.
• Aims
I. conservation of bio-diversity and ecosystem.
II. association of environment with development.
III. international network for research and monitoring.

Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve

• First of 14 Biosphere reserves of India, established in September, 1986, with a
total area of 5520 sq km.
• Embraces the sanctuary complex of Wyanad, Nagarhale, Bandipur and
Mudumalai, hill slopes of Nilambur, Upper Nilgiri plateau. Silent Valley and
Siruvani hills.
• Possesses unspoilt areas of vegetation with - dry scrubs, dry and moist
deciduous, semi-evergreen and wet evergreen forests, evergreen sholas,
grasslands and swamps.
• Nilgiri Tahr and Lion-tailed macaque - endangered animals.

Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve

• Situated in Uttarakhand - includes parts of Chamoli, Almora, Pithoragarh and
Bageshwar districts. Major reserved forests are temperate.

Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve

38
• Located in swampy delta of ganga in West Bengal, with an area of 9,630 sq km.
• Consists of mangrove forests, swamps and forested islands.
• Home of nearly 200 Royal Bengal Tigers.

Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve

• Area - 105,000 hectares, southern coast of India.
• One of the world's richest regions from a marine diversity.
• Comprises 21 islands

Chapter 6 – Soil
Introduction
• Soil- Mixture of rock debris and organic materials.
• Components of soil – mineral particles, humus, water and air.

Classification of soils
• Two major groups of soil in ancient times – Urvara and Usara.
• Soil Survey of India, established in 1956, made comprehensive studies of soils.
• National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning is an institute under
control of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Alluvial Soils
• These are widespread in northern plains and river valleys.
• Cover 40% of total area of the country.
• Depositional soils - transported and deposited by rivers and streams.
• Found in deltas of east coast and in river valleys in Peninsular region.
• Vary in nature from sandy loam to clay.
• Rich in potash and poor in phosphorus.
• Khadar and Bhangar- different types of alluvial soil in upper and Middle ganga
plain.
• Khadar- new alluvial soil, deposited by floods annually.
• Bhangar - old alluvial soil, deposited away from flood plains.
• Colour of alluvial soil varies from light grey to ash grey.
• Intensively cultivated.

Black Soil
• Covers most of Deccan Plateau. Includes parts of Maharashtra, - MP, Gujarat.
AP and Tamil Nadu.

39
• Also known as 'Regur soil' or 'Black Cotton Soil'.
• Clayey, deep and Impermeable.
• A kind of set ploughing.
• Retains moisture for a very long time.
• Rich in lime, iron, magnesia, alumina and potash.
• Poor in phosphorus, nitrogen and organic matter.
• Colour - deep black to grey.

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 Red and Yellow Soil
• Develops on crystalline igneous rocks in eastern part of Deccan Plateau.
• Red loamy soil is also found in Western Ghats.
• Yellow soils are also found in Odisha and Chhattisgarh and ganga plain.
• Develops a reddish colour due to a wide diffusion of iron in crystalline and
metamorphic rocks.
• Looks yellow in hydrated form.
• Poor in nitrogen, phosphorous and humus.

Laterite Soil
• Derived from latin word 'Laten' - means brick.
• These develop in areas with high temperature and high rainfall.
• Since lime and silica are leached away with rain, these are rich in iron oxide and
aluminium.
• Humus - removed fast by bacteria.
• Poor in organic matter, nitrogen, phosphate and calcium.
• Not suitable for cultivation.
• Red Laterite Soil in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerela are more suitable
for tree crops like cashewnut.
• Laterite soils are widely cut as bricks for use in house construction.
• Mainly developed in higher areas of the Peninsular plateau.
• Found in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and hilly areas of
Odisha and Assam.

Arid Soils
• Colour- red to brown.
• Sandy in structure and saline in nature.
• Common salt- obtained by evaporating saline water.
• Lack moisture and humus.
• Nitrogen is insufficient and phosphate is normal.
• Lower horizons-occupied by Kankar layers-increasing calcium content
downwards.
• Kankar layer - forms in the bottom horizon-restricts infiltration of water.
• Developed in western Rajasthan.
• Poor and contain little humus and organic matter.

Saline Soils
• Also known as usara soils.

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• Contain a larger proportion of sodium, potassium and magnesium.
• Infertile and do not support any vegetative growth.
• Have more salts largely because of dry climate and poor drainage.
• Occur in arid and semi-arid regions.
• Structure ranges from sandy to loamy.
• Lack in nitrogen and calcium.
• Widespread in western Gujarat, deltas of eastern coast and in Sundarban areas
of West Bengal.
• South-west monsoon brings salt particles in Rann of kachchh.
• Seawater intrusions in deltas promote occurrence of saline soils.
• Excessive irrigation with dry climate conditions promotes capillary action.
• Farmers add gypsum to solve salinity problems in the soil.

Peaty soils
• Found in areas of heavy rainfall and high humidity areas.
• Rich in humus and organic content.
• Normally heavy and black in colour.
• Found in the northern part of Bihar, the southern part of Uttarakhand. coastal
areas of west Bengal, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.

Forest Soils
• Formed in forest areas where sufficient rainfall is available.
• Loamy and silty on valley sites and coarse-grained in upper slopes.
• Lower valley soils are fertile.

Soil Degradation
• Decline in soil fertility, when nutritional status declines and, depth of soil goes
down due to erosion and misuse.
• Main factor leading to the depleting soil resources base in India.
• Varies from place to place according to topography, wind velocity and rainfall
amount.

Soil Erosion
• Destruction of soil cover.
• Process of formation of soil and erosional processes of running water and wind
go on simultaneously.
• Generally, removal rate of fine particles from the surface is the same as the rate
of addition of particles to the soil layer.
• Human activities are also responsible.
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• Wind erosion - significant in arid and semi-arid regions.
• Water erosion - more serious and occurs extensively in India, in the form sheet
and gully erosion. Occurs in regions of heavy rainfall and steep slopes.
• Sheet erosion - takes place on level lands after heavy shower and soil removal
is not easily noticeable.
• Gully erosion - common on steep slopes. This cuts agricultural lands into small
fragments and make them unfit for cultivation.
• Badland Topography - a region with a large number of deep gullies on ravines.
• Ravines are bound in chambal basin, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
• Soil erosion is a serious problem for Indian agriculture; cause frequent floods and
damage agricultural lands.
• Major cause - Deforestation.

Soil Conservation
• Soil Conservation - a methodology to maintain soil fertility, prevent soil erosion
and exhaustion and improve degraded condition of soil.
• First step- to check open cultivable lands on slopes from farming.
• Measures - contour bunding, contour terracing, regulated forestry, controlled
grazing, cover cropping, mixed farming and crop rotation.
• Development of shelterbelts of trees and agroforestry in arid and semi-arid areas
to protect cultivated lands must be done.

Central Soil Conservation Board

• Set up by the government of India.
• Prepared a number of plans for soil conservation in different parts of India.
• Plans are based on – climate conditions, configuration of land and social
behaviour of people.

Chapter 7- Natural Hazards and Disasters

Introduction
• Disaster - an undesirable occurrence resulting from forces that are largely
outside human control, strikes quickly with little or no warning and causes serious
disruption of life and property.
• Caused by both natural and man-made factors.

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• Natural Hazards - elements of circumstances in natural environment that have
potential to cause harm to people or property or both.
• Natural Disasters - relatively sudden and cause large scale, widespread death,
loss of property and disturbance to social systems and life over without no
control.

Classification of Natural Disasters

Earthquakes
• Most unpredictable and highly destructive. These are tectonic in origin and have
quite large influence.
• Result from a series of earth movements brought about by a sudden release of
energy during tectonic activities in earth's crust.
• Associates with - volcanic eruption, rock fall, landslides, subsidence etc.

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• Indian Plate - moving at a speed of 1 cm per year towards the north and
northeastern direction.
• Movement of Indian Plate is being constantly obstructed by Eurasian plate from
north.
• Excessive accumulation of energy results in building up of stress.
• Most vulnerable states- Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand,
Sikkim, Darjiling, West Bengal and the Northeastern states.
• Based on an analysis of 1,200 past earthquakes occurred in India, National
Geophysical Laboratory, Geological Survey of India, Dept of Meteorology,
Government of India has divided India into five earthquake zones
▪ Very high damage risk zone
▪ High damage risk zone
▪ Moderate damage risk zone
▪ Low damage risk zone
▪ Very low damage risk zone.

• Areas under Very High Damage Risk zone - North-eastern states, north of
Darbhanga and Araria along Indo-Nepal border in Bihar, Uttarakhand, Western
Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir valley in Himalayan region, Rann of Kachchh
• Areas under High Damage Risk zone - Remaining part of Jammu and Kashmir
Himachal Pradesh, Northern parts of Punjab, Eastern parts of Haryana, Delhi,
Western Uttar Pradesh, Northern Bihar
• Landmass of Deccan Plateau - safest.

Socio-Environmental Consequences of Earthquakes:

• Becomes a calamity in high density of population areas.
• Not only damage things, but also robs the population of their material and socio-
economic gains, preserved for over generations.

Effects of Earthquakes:
• On ground- Fissures Settlements, Landslides, Liquefaction, Earth Pressure,
Possible chain-effects, etc.
• On Man-made structures -Creaking, Slidings, Overturning, Buckling, Collapse,
Possible chain-effects.
• On water – Waves, Hydro-Dynamic Pressure, Tsunami, Possible Chain-effects.

Earthquake Hazard Mitigation:

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• Establishing earthquake monitoring centres for regular monitoring and fast
dissemination of Information among people in vulnerable areas.
• Preparing a vulnerability map of the country and dissemination of vulnerability
risk information among the people and educate them on its ways and means of
less impact of earthquake.
• Modifying house and building types and designs.
• Making it mandatory to adopt earthquake-resistant designs and use light
materials.

Tsunami
• Caused by earthquake and volcanic eruptions on the sea-floor.
• Also known as- Harbour waves or Seismic Sea waves.
• Speed of wave depends upon depth of water.
• Impact is less over the ocean and more near in its coast.
Shallow water waves –
when the height of a wave is 15 m or more, which causes large-scale
destructions along the shores.
• Frequently observed along -Pacific ring of fire, Coast of Alaska, Japan,
Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia Myanmar, Sri Lanka and India.
• Mitigation is difficult.
• India has volunteered to join the International Tsunami warning System after the
December 2004 tsunami disaster.

Tropical Cyclone
• These are intense low-pressure areas confined to the areas lying between 30°N
and 30S latitudes in atmosphere around which high velocity winds blow.
• Horizontal extension – up to 500-1000 km. Vertical extension from surface to 12-
14 km.
• It is like a heat engine, energised by release of latent heat on account of
condensation of moisture that wind gathers after moving over the oceans and
seas.
• Conditions of emergence -
▪ Large and continuous supply of warm and moist air that can release
enormous latent heat.
▪ Strong Coriolis force that can prevent filling of low pressure at the centre.
▪ Unstable condition through the troposphere that creates local disturbances
around which a cyclone develops.
▪ Absence of strong vertical wind wedge, which disturbs the vertical transport of
latent heat.

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 Structure of Tropical Cyclone
• Characterized by large pressure gradients.
• Centre is mostly warm and low-pressure. Cloudless core is known as the Eye of
the storm.
• Varies between 14-17 mb/100 km - 60mb/100 km.
• Expansion of wind belt about 10-150 km from centre.

Spatio-temporal Distribution of Tropical Cyclone in India

• Originates in Bay of Bengal in the east and Arabian Sea in the west.
• Originate between - 10-15° north latitudes during monsoon.
• Bay of Bengal –
▪ originates during October and November.
▪ between 16-2° N latitudes and to west of 92°E.

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 Consequences of Tropical Cyclone
• Coastal areas are often struck by severe cyclonic storms with an average
velocity of 180 km/h.
• Storm Surge and abnormal rise in the sea level.

Floods
• Relatively slow in occurrence.
• Occur commonly when water in form of surface run-off exceeds the capacity of
river channels and streams.
• National Flood Commission identified 40 million hectares of land as flood-prone
in India

Measures to taken for control

▪ Construction of flood protection embankments in flood prone areas.
▪ Construction of dams
▪ Afforestation
▪ Discouraging major construction activities in upper reaches.

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 Droughts
• A complex phenomenon as it Involves elements of meteorology like -
precipitation, evaporation, evapotranspiration, ground water, soil moisture,
agricultural practices and storage and surface run-off.

Types of Droughts
• Meteorological Drought: A situation when a prolonged period of inadequate
rainfall marked with maldistribution of the same over time and space.
• Agricultural Drought:
▪ Also known as 'Soil moisture drought'.
▪ Characterized by low soil moisture to support the crops.
▪ An area with more than 30% under irrigation is excluded from the drought-
prone category.
• Hydrological Drought: Results when water availability in different storages and
reservoirs falls below replenish precipitation.
• Ecological Drought: when the natural ecosystem productivity fails due to
shortage of water and as a consequence of ecological distress, damages are
induced in the ecosystem.

Drought Prone Areas in India

• Droughts and floods - two accompanying features of Indian climate.
• 19% geographical area and 12% population - suffer due to drought every year.
• Widespread and common phenomena of India.
• India can be divided into -
▪ Extreme Drought Affected Areas -
o Rajasthan, areas to the west of Aravali hills, Rann of Kachchh etc.
o Indian desert with less than 90 mm average annual rainfall.
▪ Severe Drought Prone Area -
o Eastern Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh and Karnataka plateau, northern Tamil Nadu, southern
Jharkhand and Odisha.
▪ Moderate Drought Affected Area -
o Northern Rajasthan, Haryana, Southern UP, Gujarat, Mahanashina,
Jharkhand and Coimbatore plateau of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Consequences of Drought
• All three 'Trikal' are most devastating.
▪ Akal-crop failure leading to scarcity of food grains.
▪ Trinkal- fodder scarcity
▪ Jalkal- inadequate rainfall, resulting in shortage of water.

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• Large scale death of cattle and other animals.
• Scarcity of water compels people to consume contaminated water resulting
waterborne diseases.

Landslides
• Less dramatic.
• Largely controlled by highly localized factors.
• Most common in – Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Kerala.

Consequences of Landslides
• Leads to Roadblock.
• Destruction of railway lines.
• Channel blocking due to rock falls.
• Diversion of river courses.

Mitigation:
• Restriction on construction and developmental activities.
• Limiting agriculture to valleys and areas with moderate slopes.
• Control on development of large settlements in high vulnerability areas.

Disaster Management
• With the help of development of techniques to monitor the behaviour of disasters,
it has become possible to be aware from them.
• Three stages involved in disaster mitigation and management are -
▪ Pre-disaster management Involves generating data and information regarding
disasters, helps in awareness among people.
▪ During disasters, rescue and relief operations should be done on an
emergency basis.
▪ Post-disaster operations should involve rehabilitation and recovery of victims.

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