Question

The Eastern Coastal Plain is more important than the Western Coastal Plain. Justify the statement.

Answer 1

Hint: The Eastern Coastal Plain is located in between the Bay of Bengal in the East and the Eastern Ghats to its West. It is broader and with a level surface. Wide deltas are formed here by large rivers.

Complete answer:The Eastern Coastal Plain and the Western Coastal Plains are the two divisions of coastal plains based on its geomorphological processes and location. The Eastern coastal plain is divided into two stretches, north and south. The northern stretch of the eastern coastal plain is the Northern Circar and the southern stretch is called Coromandel Coast. Western coastal plains are divided into three parts. The Malabar Coast constitutes the southern part and Karavali is the central part. The northern part is known as Konkan.
The Eastern Coastal Plain is more important because of its broader nature and the presence of fertile alluvial soil. The reason for this is the well-developed deltas in the region. These deltas are formed by the rivers flowing eastward into the Bay of Bengal. It includes the deltas of the Godavari, the Mahanadi, the Krishna and the Kaveri.
The western coastal plain which is located in between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats has no presence of deltas and they are very narrow. Compared to the Eastern Coastal Plain, the Western Coastal Plains are infertile and it is also intersected by mountain ridges.

Note: The Eastern Coastal Plain is an example of an emergent coast while the Western Coastal Plains are an example of submerged coastal plain. Some of the natural ports located along the west coast are Kandla, Mazagaon, Mormugao, Mangalore, Cochin, etc. Tuticorin, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, and Port Blair are some important ports located on the east coast.