STANDING TALL, THE AGE DEFYING STRENGTH OF SAHYADRIS BEARS TESTIMONY TO THE FACT THAT THE WRATH OF NATURE COULD BE SERENDIPITY. THE CHARRING HEAT OF THE MAGMA THAT BLASTED THROUGH THE EARTH AGES AGO AND DESTROYED THE THEN EXISTING BIODIVERSITY, NOW IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HERITAGE OF INDIA - THE SAHYADRIS.

Western GhatsandSahyadrisAn OverviewWestern GhatsandSahyadrisAn Overview

Text and photographs by Rohan R. Raofor soon to be launched adventure and travel magazine - An iVenturez Co.

he beauty that Sahyadri heraldsencompasses a wide domain of subjects ranging from naturalflora and fauna including some exquisiteherbs and rare species ofwildlife.Beside the bio-diversity that it houses,the sky kissing heights ofSahyadrisplays an important role in the redirect-ing the potential ofthe torrential mon-soon winds.And ofcourse,one cannotforget the magnanimous role that it por-trayed in the Swarajya movement in theyesteryears - ofcourse that is with a richhistorical perspective.Sahyadris is truly a sentinel ofglory,a standing testimony to the magic ofnature,geology and his-tory. The Western Ghats and the SahyadrisMany a times,Sahyadris and Westernghats are exchanged for cross refer-ences.However,to be specific Sahyadriis just the northern part ofWesternGhats.The Western ghat,as the namesuggests runs along the length ofcoast-line in a North-South direction and sep-arates the coastal plains ofKonkanfrom the Deccan plateau.The westernghat runs across the states of Maharashtra,Goa,Karnataka andKerala - including the rangesofSahyadris,Nilgiris and Annamalairespectively.They cover an areaofabout 160,000 km² and stretch for1,600 kilometers from the country'ssouthern tip in Kerala upto the Taptiriver basin ofGujarat in the north,withonly the Palghat gap in Kerala.Theentire length ofthe Western ghats along with the Srilanka has been labelled asone of34 global biodiversity hotspots.

GEOLOGICAL ROLE

As the geography dictates,the ridge of the western ghat runs in North-Southdirection and is flanked by the Easternand Western slopes.The eastern slopeofWestern ghat (towards the Deccanplateau) is more gradual and ofan easi-er gradient as compared to the westernslope,which is more or less a steep fallofthousands ofmetres into theKonkan plains.It is this steep gradientthat plays a very important role in therain showers in these parts.The steeprise ofthese peaks from the Konkanplains prevents the monsoons windsfrom passing over and confines theheavy rains to Konkan,leaving easternparts ofthe plateau in relative rain shad-ow zones.The crest line receives maxrainfall where measurements vary from4,000 to 6,000 mm (with 80 percent of it falling during the southwest monsoonfrom June to September).Lying in therain shadow,the eastern slopes oftheSahyadris receive significantly less rain-fall,but the hills and favourable terrainserve as a critical catchment for key eastern-flowing rivers such as theGodavari and Krishna.Whilst on theother hand,on the Konkan side theRivers run a very short course beforeemptying in the salinity ofArabian Sea. The Sahyadris serve a crucial role inproviding nearby cities with a perennial water supply.As we have in these parts- an eight-month dry season,it is thepresence ofthese forests andfavourable terrain to absorb and retainmonsoon rains and crucial role play by these parameters is ofutmost impor-tance to continue to cycle.Our com-mercial capital - Mumbai,more than any other city,is completely dependent onreservoirs and catchment areas like Tansa,Vaitarna provided by theSahyadris.Other major hubs like Pune

Kalsubai with a height of 5400 feetis the highest peak in the entireSahyadri range i.e. Maharashtra andis one of the only three peaksabove 5000 feet in the state

Gorakshanath peak

and Nashik too benefit from theprotection ofthe natural forests in thehills.

EXTENT AND GEOGRAPHY

Western Ghats is formed predomi-nantly by the Saputara and Vindhyaranges extending in East-West directionand forming the northern limit;theSahyadris and Nilgiris running inNorth-South direction forms most of its length and the Annamalai range inthe Kerala bordering the southern endofthe ghats.Though the term'Sahyadris' is used interchangeably withthe description ofthe entire WesternGhats,it is more accurate to associatethe Sahyadris with the hills running from the tri-junction ofGoa,Karnatakaand Maharashtra northwards to the Tapti River near the Gujarat border. The Sahyadri range is narrow,about10-20 km.wide from east to west,andabout 640 km.long running along thelength ofMaharashtra and some partsofGoa.As mentioned above,the west-ern face rises dramatically and very steeply from the moist Konkan Coast while on the eastern flanks they fallmore gently into the expansive and arid(relatively;owing to the rain fall patterndictated by the topography) DeccanPlateau.The average height is roughly 1,000 m.in the Sahyadris;Kalsubai nearNashik with a height of1,646 m.being the highest peak in Maharashtra.

FORMATION

The Sahyadri range and the entire Western ghats is the result ofthe unin-hibited Volcanic activity - The largestand most severe form ofVolcanismthat earth has witnessed,around 60 mil-lion years ago when the Indian platedrifted over a mantle hotpot on its way to collide with the Asian plate.Well,thedisturbed activities ofthese plates andthe movements that eventually led tomagma burst had been the contributing factor for the typical step ladder patterninnervating the slopes ofthe Sahyadrihills at regular intervals amidst patchesofvegetations.The basaltic origin of the black clifflines is clearly evidentagainst the lush green ofthe Ghats. These steps or traps represent basaltflows that are the most dramatic rem-nants ofthe formation ofthe Deccan.In contrast,though the southern partsofthe western ghat (Nilgiris and othersouthern ranges) are older formations. The difference in their ages and periodofformation is clearly visible in thestrikingly different topography.Notonly the southern ranges are loftier,butthey have gentler slopes and this has pri-marily been responsible for denser for-est cover on their slopes.While inSahyadris,most ofthe formations are'peaked' with cliffs and steep basaltfaces being a distinct feature.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Mostly,the rugged topography of Sahyadris,except for the lush green dur-ing monsoons,adorn a golden yellowishhue ofits soil and grass and black basalt with sun baked deciduous shrubs.Evergreen forests do exist,but in patch-es,small enough to be inconspicuous inthe deciduous carpet.Evergreens occu-py the wet areas along the crestline of the Sahyadris and the Konkan belt.Konkan areas like Ratnagiri,Amboli in

Anaimudi peak in the Annamalai hillof nearly twice that of the Kalsubaipeak

Salher - The highest hill fort in Maharashtra

in the western ghat with an altituderanges in Kerala is the highest peak