Question

The relief of India displays a great physical variation .Explain.

Answer 1

India has land under a variety of relief features, namely; mountains, plateaus, plains and islands.

• Plains -About 43 per cent of the land area is plains. These areas are fertile and maximum cultivation is done in these areas.

-The Indo-Gangetic plain is drained by Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra. It extends over an area of 2400 km. It is an area of intensive cultivation.

-The Coastal Plains run along the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri are some of the prominent rivers that drain this area.

• Mountains - 30 per cent of the total surface area of India is covered with mountains. They ensure perennial flow of some rivers; provide facilities for tourism and ecological aspects. The Himalayas in the north, the Eastern and Western Ghats are the main mountainous zones.
• Plateau- About 27 per cent of the area of the country is the plateau region. It possesses rich reserves of minerals, fossil fuels and forests. The Peninsula plateau and the Chotanagpur plateau are the two most important plateau zones in India. The Damodar river drains the Chotanagpur plateau and the Peninsular plateau is drained by Tungabhadra, Bhima and Krishna river.
• Islands are less than 1 per cent of the area of the country. They provide opportunities for sea trade, tourism, and fish catch. The Lakshadweep islands and the Andaman Nicobar islands are the two major groups of islands in India.