Western Ghats

The mountain chain running for nearly 1600 kms, along the south-western coast, is the principal watershed for peninsular India. Monsoon clouds from the Indian ocean hit the peaks precipitating more than 29 feet of rains.Some 60 rivers,including the Godavari,Krishna and Kavery and countless streams have watered fields for atleast 5,000 yrs.

                              About one third of plants, almost have the reptiles, more than three fourth of amphibians and 325 bird species found in India inhabit the13,000 sq.kms of the ghats down from 160,000 sq.kms, of forest  at the begining of the 20th century.Tigers, Elephants,Langurs,Hornbills,and King cobras too are denizens.Threatened species include the Gaur,Sloth bear and Malabar squirrel,Wroughton's free tailed bat & white bellied shortwing.Silent valley a "a bio diversity hot spot" too nestles here.We proudly offer you our green heritage increasingly threatened by predatory interests 
 

Facts & Figures 

• Nilgiri is the meeting point of western and eastern ghats.
• NIlgiri and Agasthyamalai are the only biosphere reserves.
• Largest Bird Sanctuary is Thattekad bird sanctuary in Kerala (25sqkm) 
• Major East flowing Rivers are Krishna,Godavery and Kavery 
• Largest protected areas are Indhira gandhi wildlife sanctuary and National park in tamil Nadu (850sqkm)
  • Smallest protected areas are Gudavi bird sanctuary in karnataka(.74sqkm)
• Scientific name of the recently discovered purple frog is Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis 
• Total Forest cover - approximately 20% of western ghats 
• Major Forest types
  Evergreen,Semi evergreen,Moist deciduous and Dry deciduous.
   

                                                  Highest waterfall 
  

 

                                                                                             The jog falls or the Gersoppa falls,falling from a height of 253 m [829 ft] along the course of Shravathy river in Shimogha district of Karnataka,is the highest natural plunge waterfall in Southasia.This is listed among the 1001 natural wonders of the world and is one of the major tourist attraction.

 Highest Peak

Anamudi 2695m [8,842 ft] in the southern part of the range in the anamalai hills,in western Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

 

  Second Highest Peak

Dodabetta 2,637m [8651 ft] in Nilgiris,Tamil Nadu.

Most prominent gap/Pass in the range

The palghat gap(on the Kerala/Tamil nadu border between the Nilgiri hills and Anamalai hills);32 km at its widest and 13 km at its narrowest.Considered to represent the valley formed by a major river of the territory times.

Global 200 priority ecoregions

South western ghats moist forests and western ghats rivers and streams

  

Degree of endemism

Of all the faunal groups ,highest endemism seen among land snails(invertebrates) and amphibians (vertebrates)

 

The Chirapunji of south India

Agumbe in Shimogha district of Karnataka.Recieves the second highest rainfall in the country after chirapunji in Meghalaya

 Protected areas

The largest proportion (45%) of the area protected in western ghats lies within the 19 protected areas in the state of Karnataka