Environmental Science and

AR 605
URBAN ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL
PLANNING

TOPIC
THE DECCAN
PENINSULA
• SHAH AL NAWAJISH
• PREM KUMAR
• AMITESH KUMAR
• GURPREET SINGH DHILLON
 The Deccan Peninsula
CENTRAL
HIGHLANDS
CHOTTA NAGPUR
EASTERN
HIGHLAND
CENTRAL
PLATEAU
DECCAN SOUTH

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 ABOUT
`
• The deccan peninsula is a large area of raised land covering about 43% of
India's total land surface
• Composed of oldest crystalline rocks.
• Rainfall in monsoon and temperature can exceed up to 40 degree in summer.
• The height varies from 900 to 300 mts above sea level.
• Large parts are covered by tropical forests.
• The deccan is rich in minerals. Primary mineral ores found in this region
are mica and iron ore in the chhota nagpur region, and diamonds, gold and
other metals in the golconda region.
 RIVERS
`
There are four major rivers Godavari , Krishna, Kaveri, Mahanadi which support the wetlands
of this region which have fertile black and red soil.

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SETTLEMENT PATTERN
• *The deccan is home to many languages and people. Bhil and gond people live
in the hills along the northern and northeastern edges of the plateau, and speak
various languages that belong to both the Indo-Aryan and Dravidian families of
languages. Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language, is the main language of the north-
western deccan in the state of Maharashtra.
• *Speakers of Telegu and kannada, the predominant languages of Andhra
Pradesh, and Karnataka respectively, occupy those states' portions of the
plateau. The city of Hyderabad is an important center of the urdu language in
the deccan; its surrounding areas also host a notable population of urdu
speakers.
• *The urdu dialect spoken in this region is also known as dakhini or
as deccani, named after the region itself. Northeastern parts of the deccan are
in the state of odisha. Odia, another indo-aryan language, is spoken in this part
of deccan.
• *The chief crop is cotton; also common are sugarcane, rice, and other crops.
• *Apart from the states already mentioned, the state of chhattisgarh is found in the
northeast corner of the plateau. The large cities in the deccan are hyderabad, the
capital of andhra pradesh and telangana, bangalore, the capital of
karnataka, pune, the cultural hub of maharashtra and nagpur, the winter capital of
maharashtra .
• Other major cities include mysore, gulbarga and bellary in
karnataka; satara, amravati, akola, kolhapur, latur, 
• Nanded, sangli, and aurangabad in
maharashtra; amaravati, visakhapatnam, kurnool,
•  Anantapur, rajahmundry, eluru, in andhra pradesh;
warangal, karimnagar, ramagundam, nizamabad, 
• Siddipet, jammikunta, mahbubnagar in present telangana.
ISSUES
1. A severe earthquakes of 7.4 magnitudes on the richter scale
struck ausa block of latur district and umarga of osmanabad
district in maharashtra in the year 1993. It demolished 52
villages, killed many people and destroyed their properties.
2. The koyna dam region is also prone to earthquakes occurred in
this region on 11-12-1967. It damaged houses in koynanagar.
However, it did not cause any major damage to the koyna dam.
There have been several earthquakes of smaller magnitude
since 1967.
3. The mining areas become barren after mining activities like
bokaro and chhota nagpur plateau.
• 4. Conservation of the fragile grassland ecosystem and the changing
landscape of the deccan plateau, including various grass species, tree
species from the thorn and dry deciduous forests (including medicinal
plants), insect and reptile species, bat species, great indian bustard, lesser
florican, indian wolf, blackbuck, chinkara, indian fox and golden jackal.
• 5. Drier wells in deccan plateau would deepen farm distress. As the climate
changes for the worse over much of the semi-arid regions of india, the
increasing demand for irrigation could lead to dry wells even if there is better
groundwater recharge.
POTENTIALS
• Manmade lakes at government barren land during rainy seasons.
• *Skilled human resources with ground water related initiatives.
• *Sharing ground water knowledge with farmers.
• *Ground water legislation for protection of existing and new resources.
• *Saving the rain water and controlling the water usage are the best ways to increase the
ground water level in the deccan plateau.
• *Some of the methods of water conservation are mentioned below.
• 1.Rain water harvesting: rain water is the inevitable source of fresh water. It can be used to
increase the ground water level by collecting the rain water in a pit and can be used it for
house hold purpose like washing. This method could possibly prevent the excess use of
ground water in rainy seasons and probably increase the level of ground water for summer.
• 2.Awareness on saving ground water: creating awareness about the ground water usage
and constructing water reservoirs like dams, lakes and ponds wherever possible is also an
effective method of increasing ground water level not only in deccan plateau but
everywhere.
• *Need for a wider landscape based outlook and cumulative impact assessment
studies to conserve the vast mosaic of grasslands, scrub forests, farmlands,
villages, rivers, small and big cities and the upcoming industrial areas, rather
than a patchy approach focusing only on the meager protected areas in the
region. 

*Need for better coordination between the different divisions of forest

department, viz. Wildlife, territorial and social forestry. 

*Need for grassland regulation zone (GRZ) or habitat regulation zone (HRZ) for
grassland conservation through measures such as removal of exotic tree
plantations, study of impact of farm pesticides, controlled grazing of domestic
animals in non-protected areas and control on poaching. 
• *Need for retention and promotion of sustainable traditional practices and
blending them with modern field research findings. 

*Need for community based conservation measures through cooperation

between traditional farmers, cash crop farmers, traditional nomadic
shepherds (dhangar), traditional hunters (pardhi), forest officials,
researchers, media and all other stakeholders. 
THANK
YOU