Question

Differentiate between the Western and the Eastern Ghats.

Answer 1

Hint: The south-west monsoon coming from the Arabian sea due to the presence of Western Ghats causes heavy rainfall in the Western coasts plain. The Eastern Ghats do not cause much rainfall and are parallel to the monsoon coming from the Bay of Bengal.

Complete answer:
From the Tapi river to Kanyakumari the Western Ghats run parallel to the Western coasts in a north-south direction. And from Odisha to Nilgiri hills the Eastern Ghats run in a northeast to a Southwest direction parallel to the Eastern coasts. The Western Ghats has an average width of 50-20km where the Eastern Ghats have varying width from 100-200km. Many of the big rivers originate from the Western Ghats but no big river is generated from the Eastern Ghats. The Western Ghats are continuously situated and they can be crossed bypasses only. The Eastern Ghats have been divided into various parts by large rivers. The Eastern Ghats are about 600m above sea level. But Western Ghats’ average elevation is 900m-1100m from sea level.
The Western Ghats are known as 'Sahyadri' in Maharashtra, Nilgiri hills in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and Anamudi hills, and Cardamom hills in Kerala. The Western Ghats originate from various peninsulas of rivers. Rivers like Krishna, Kaveri, Mahanadi, Godavari are generated from the Eastern Ghats. Javadi Hills, Mahendra Giri hills are some of the important mountain hills of Eastern Ghats. The Western Ghats consist of evergreen forests and the main crop is grown coffee.

Note: Anaimudi is the highest peak of the peninsular plateau, it is about 2695m high. It is also called the Everest of South India. The highest peak of Eastern Ghats is Jindhagada peak (1690m).