Question

Describe any three features of coastal plains of India.

Answer 1

Hint: The coastal plains of India lie on both sides of the Peninsular Plateau. They lie between the Western Ghats and the western coast of India and between the Eastern Ghats and the eastern coast of India in the western and eastern side of the country respectively. The coastal plains of India are broadly divided into the Western Coastal Plains and the Eastern Coastal Plain.

Complete answer: The Coastal Plains of India extend for about 6,150km from the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat in the west to West Bengal in the east. The two coastal plains meet at Kanyakumari at the southernmost point of the country. The coastal plains are surrounded by Arabian Sea in the west and Bay of Bengal in the east. Some of coastal plains can be enumerated as follows,
Firstly, from the geographical point of view, coastal plains are regional features having low relief bounded seaward by the shore and landwards by highlands or plains or plateaus.
The northern part of the western coastal plains (that is bounded between Western Ghats and Arabian Sea) is termed as ‘Konkan’; the central part is termed as the ‘Kannad Plain’ and the southern part is called the ‘Malabar Coast’.
In the northern part of the eastern coastal plain (that is bounded by Eastern Ghats and Bay of Bengal), it is called ‘Northern Circars’ whereas the southern part is termed as the ‘Coromandel Coasts’.
Secondly, though the coasts of the rivers have saline soil not so much suitable for agricultural or cultivation purpose, the plain regions of the coasts are drained by many rivers like Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri, which form extensive deltas on the eastern coastal plains, thus making soil suitable for agriculture.
Thirdly, the climatic conditions of the coastal plains is very much suitable for the human habitat. The weather conditions remain cool throughout the year with neither too hot summer nor too cold winters. The regions experience occasional rainfall both in summer and in winter, making the place absolutely suitable for living.

Note: Agriculture in the eastern coastal plain primarily consists of paddy while crops like groundnut, bajra, jowar, cotton are grown in the western coastal plains. These coastal plains are tourist attractive places as well.