Hydrology of mountainous areas

Abstract

The mountainous regions are sources of water, forest, food, fiber and energy. Nearly 35% of the geographical area in the country is mountainous. Of these nearly 58% is accounted for by the mighty Himalayas extending from northwest to east. Besides, the Khasi and Jayantiya hills in the northeast, the Vindhyas and Satpura hills in central India, the western ghats running all along the west coast from Maharashtra to Kerala and the broken hill ranges of eastern ghats largely determine and guide the country's rainfall pattern during the summer monsoon as well as winter rainy season. Isolated hill ranges like the Aravalis in Rajasthan and Nilgiris in Tamilnadu also influence the rainfall occurrence locally. Fig shows the mountain systems in the country.