Deccan Plateau
The entire southern peninsula of India south of the Narmada River is marked centrally by a high triangular tableland named Deccan. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word “daksina” (south). The plateau is bounded on the east and west by the Ghats, escarpments that meet at the plateau’s southern tip. Its northern extremity is the Satpura Range. Historians have however defined the term Deccan differently. These definitions range from a narrow one by R. G. Bhandarkar (1920), who defines Deccan as the area lying between the Godavari and the Krishna rivers, to a broad one by K. M. Panikkar (1969), who defines it as the entire Indian peninsula to the south of the Vindhyas. The evolution of the plateau coupled with its geographical location has led to its unique characteristics.
The Deccan plateau is predominantly a Precambrian shield that formed along with the earlier peninsular plateau. During the late Cretaceous period between 67 and 66 million years ago, the Indian plateau was moving over the Reunion hotspot. Layer after layer was formed by the volcanic activity that lasted many thousands of years, and when the volcanoes became extinct, they left a region of highlands with typically vast stretches of flat areas on top like a table. This led to the formation of massive Deccan Traps that covers most of the deccan plateau today.
Due to these volcanic eruptions, the Deccan plateau is largely composed of Basalt which is mafic in composition-meaning it is rich in pyroxene and, in some cases, olivine, both of which are Mg-Fe rich minerals. At some places granite is also found which is felsic in composition making it rich in potassium feldspar and quartz. Both rocks are found in the Deccan Plateau, indicating two different environments of formation.
The Deccan's average elevation is about 2,000 feet (600 m), sloping generally eastward. Its principal rivers, the Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri, flow from the Western Ghats eastward to the Bay of Bengal. On the western edge of the plateau lie the Sahyadri, the Nilgiri, the Anaimalai and the Elamalai Hills, commonly known as Western Ghats. The average height of the Western Ghats, which run along the Arabian Sea, goes on increasing towards the south. Anamudi Peak in Kerala, with a height of 2,695 m above sea level, is the highest peak of peninsular India.
The region is arid and semi-arid as it is located in the rain shadow region of Western Ghats. Due to this the plateau's forests are moist deciduous, dry deciduous and tropical thorn. The eastern Deccan plateau, called Telangana and Rayalaseema, is made of vast sheets of massive granite rock, which effectively traps rainwater. Under the thin surface layer of soil is the impervious gray granite bedrock.
Most Deccan plateau rivers flow south. Most of the northern part of the plateau is drained by the Godavari River and its tributaries, including the Indravati River, starting from the Western Ghats and flowing east towards the Bay of Bengal. Most of the central plateau is drained by the Tungabhadra River, Krishna River and its tributaries, including the Bhima River, which also run east. The southernmost part of the plateau is drained by the Kaveri River, which rises in the Western Ghats of Karnataka and bends south to break through the Nilgiri Hills before flowing into the Mettur Dam and finally emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
Most of the population of the region is engaged in agriculture and grows cereals, oilseeds, cotton, and pulses (legumes) as major crops. There are multipurpose irrigation and hydroelectric-power projects, including the Pochampad, Bhaira Vanitippa, and Upper Ponnaiyar. Due to the presence of irrigation facilities there is a growing trend of sugarcane in this region despite not being naturally suited for the region. Coffee, tea, coconuts, areca, pepper, rubber, cashew nuts, tapioca, and cardamom are widely grown on plantations in the Nilgiri Hills and on the western slopes of the Western Ghats. Cultivation of Jatropha has recently received more attention due to the Jatropha incentives in India.
The soil here is known as Black cotton soil which is useful for growing cotton. Majority of the cotton textile industrial clusters are located in this region with cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Surat leading the production. Industries (located in Hyderabad, Warangal, and Kurnool) produce cotton textiles, sugar, foodstuffs, tobacco, paper, machine tools, and pharmaceuticals. Cottage industries are forest-based (timber, firewood, charcoal, bamboo products) and mineral-based (asbestos, coal, chromite, iron ore, mica, and kyanite).
In the present times there are many issues in the deccan plateau specially related to the agrarian sector. This includes overutilization of groundwater for irrigation intensive crops such as sugarcane and plantation crops. This has led to the dual problem of farm distress and groundwater depletion. Due to this reason there are rising instances of farmers suicides and protest.
In such a scenario, Ralegaon siddhi model of watershed management can be a panacea for the issues prevailing in the region. This includes a combination of afforestation coupled with water harvesting techniques that has improved the availability of water and thus provided the support to the agrarian sector. Along with such efforts cropping patterns as per the agro climatic conditions can also help to improve the productivity in the region.
Given the vast expanse and the diversity of the population living in the deccan plateau, development of the region as per their geographical constraints can be beneficial for growth and development of the country in the long run.
