Salient Features of East and West Coast of India

The Western Coastal plain lies between Kerala and Gujarat and stretches from the Arabian Sea to the Western Ghats. The total length of the western coasts is 1400 kilometers and its width varies from 10 kilometers to 80 kilometers. The elevation of the land ranges from 150m to 300m above sea level.  The most important characteristics of the Western Coastal Plain are sandy beaches, coastal sand-dunes, mud-flats, lagoons, alluvial tracts, estuaries, lateritic -platforms and residual hills.

On the west coast, we have coastal plains of Gujarat and the coasts of the Peninsular India between Western Ghats and Arabian Sea.  We divide the west coast into these three parts Coasts and Coastal Plains of Gujarat, Konkan Coast and Malabar Coast

Coastal Plains of Gujarat

Physiographically, Gujarat is divided into three regions viz. Mainland Gujarat, Saurashtra Peninsula and Katch. Out of them, the Mainland Gujarat consists of eastern rocky highlands, the extensions of mountains of western India and the western Alluvial Plains including the coastal plains.

The Saurashtra Peninsula forms a rocky table land fringed by the coastal plains with the central part made up of the undulating plain broken by hills and dissected by various rivers flowing in all directions.

The eastern fringe is a low land which marks the site of the former sea connection between the Gulfs of Katch and Gulf of Cambay.

Then, the Katch region is made up of Ranns which is basically a salt encrusted wasteland just a few meters above sea level. It gets denudated in the monsoon. It is divided into Great Rann in the north and Little Rann in the east. Between Great Rann and Rocky mainland lies the Banni Plains.

The above discussion makes it clear that plains of Gujarat cover almost the entire state of Gujarat, except two districts viz. Banaskantha and Sabarkantha. These plains have become mainly due to the alluvial deposits of Sabarmati, Mahi, Luni and other rivers and also the depositional activity of winds.

Luni  and  Banas  rivers  discharge  into  Rann  forming  inland  drainage  during  rainy  season, both of them are inland rivers.

Konkan Coast

From South of Gujarat plain, Konkan coastal plain extends from Daman to Goa. Its last boundary down south is Gangavalli River.

The Konkan coast is generally narrow, not exceeding 65 km. It is widest near Mumbai. It is rocky and uneven, a few hills protrude up to the sea and that is why we find numerous light houses across the costs to warn the ships remain away from the rocky area. The coast is rich in oil resources such as Bombay High. The northern part is sandy while the southern part is rugged.

Malabar Coast

The Malabar Coast starts from south of Goa to Kanyakumari or Cape Comorin on India’s southern tip extends. This is known for numerous lagoons aka. Kayals, which run parallel to the coast in southern part of Kerala. A chain of brackish lagoons and lakes lying parallel to the Malabar Coast in Kerala are called Backwaters. The network of Kerala Backwaters includes five large lakes linked by canals, both manmade and natural, fed by 38 rivers, and extending virtually half the length of Kerala state. The backwaters were formed by the action of waves and shore currents creating low barrier islands across the mouths of the many rivers flowing down from the Western Ghats range.

Some important landmarks of this coast are the Vembanad lake, the longest lake of India and the National Water Way-3, that stretches Kottapuram to Kollam.

Importance of Kerala Coasts

Kerala coastal zone is famous for its beautiful beaches, backwaters and lagoons. The coastal belt, a narrow strip of lowland, is the most picturesque region of Kerala, interspersed with extensive backwaters, lagoons and canals and flanked by luxuriant coconut groves and green rice fields. The lagoons and backwaters are never far from the sea and at several places they have established a permanent connection with it. The backwaters, rivers and the canal system form a navigable waterway of about 1,920 km.

This offers an unique ecological niche with great potential for brackish water fish farming in the state.
The sea off Kerala is one of the most productive zones for marine fish in India. Kochi is the major port located along the coast. The entitre coastline is of natural beauty with vast beaches. The tidal implications are felt deep into inland areas through the network of backwaters. These tides have high utility for fishing, navigation and boating.

Eastern Coast of India

The eastern coasts cut through the three states viz. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The Cauvery delta is most important sub region in Tamil Nadu, the Krishna Godavari Delta is most important landmark in Andhra Pradesh while the Mahanadi Delta is most important landmark in Odisha.

Eastern Coastal plain lies between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal and is more extensive and wide than its western counterpart. They represent an emergent coast while it‘s western counterpart is an example of submerging coast. The region receives both the Northeast and Southwest monsoon rains with its annual rainfall averaging between 1,000 mm and 3,000 mm. The width of the plains varies between 100 to 130 kilometers. The region is wider, gets more rainfall, more hot and humid, more discontinuous and more fertile & irrigated in comparison to the western plains. At places the plains are bordered with dunes. Mangrove forests also grow in this region. Lagoons are also found here.

This plain is broadly divided into

• Coromandal Coast: Ranges from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to False Divi Point in Andhra Pradesh, which is just at the apex of the Krishna River delta.
• The region between the Krishna and Mahanadi for which an old tem Northern Circars is sometimes used. Some classify it as Andhra Pradesh coastal plains.
• Mahanadi Delta. Another broader term used is Utkal Coast, which also includes the Chilika Lake.

Comparison of the East Coast and West Coast