Western Ghats in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka is home to tea, coffee and spice plantations, reserved forests, and dense tropical jungles. Elephant, Gaur, Sambar, and Wild Boars dwell in the forests. Sloth Bear, Leopard and tiger are also found. The Western Ghats is home to numerous serene hill stations like Munnar, Ponmudi, Waynad, Ooty, Kodaikannal, Coorg etc. The Silent Valley National Park in Kerala is among the last tracts of virgin tropical evergreen forest in India. The Western Ghats form one of the three watershed of India, feeding the perennial rivers of peninsula India. Important rivers include the Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri. Rivers that flow to the west drain out into the Arabian Sea. These rivers are fast-moving, owing to the short distance travelled and steeper gradient. Important rivers include the Mandovi, Zuari, and Periyar. Many of these rivers feed the backwaters of Kerala and Maharashtra. Rivers that flow eastwards of the Ghats drain into the Bay of Bengal. These are comparatively slower moving and eventually merge into larger rivers such as the Kaveri and Krishna. Smaller rivers include the Chittar, Bhima, Malaprabha, Manimuthar, Kabini, Kallayi, Kundali, Pachaiyar, Pennar, and Tambaraparani. Fast running rivers and steep slopes have provided various state governments set large hydro-electric projects. There are about major 50 dams along the length of the Western Ghats with the earliest project up in 1900 near Khopoli in Maharashtra. Most notable ...

• published: 16 Apr 2007
• views: 38182
• author: mmanoba