Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats
The differences between the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats of India can be summarized as follows :
- Direction: Western Ghats runs parallel to the western coast in a north-south direction from the Tapi River to Kanayakumari. But Eastern Ghats runs in a north-east to south-west direction parallel to the eastern coast from Orissa to the Nilgiri hills.
- Width: Western Ghat’s average width is 50 to 80 km. But Eastern Ghat’s width varying from 100 to 200 km.
- Source of rivers: Western Ghats is source of many large rivers which flow in the Peninsular India. But no big river originates from the Eastern Ghats.
- Rainfall: Western Ghats is almost perpendicular to the south-west monsoons coming from the Arabian Sea and causes heavy rainfall in the west coastal plain. But Eastern Ghats is almost parallel to the monsoons coming from the Bay of Bengal and does not cause much rainfall.
- Physical divisions: Western Ghats continuous and can be crossed through passes only. But Eastern Ghats has been divided into several parts by large rivers.
- Elevation: Western Ghats average elevation is 900 to 1,100 meters above sea-level. But the average elevation of Eastern Ghats is about 600 metres above sea level.
