SAHYADRI
PLATEAU - ENVIRONMENT
News:
Land-use changes putting
rocky addresses of animals under stress in Sahyadri plateau
What's
in the news?
● The
rapid shift from traditional local grain cultivation to monoculture plantations
of mango and cashew in the Sahyadri plateaus of Maharashtra is impacting
elusive amphibians, insects, and reptiles that live under a crop of loose
rocks.
Sahyadri
Plateau:
● It
is a northern part of the Western Ghats
of India which covers Maharashtra region.
Origin:
● Formed during the Gondwana age,
some 150 million years ago. Older than the Himalayas mountains.
● Sahyadri
mountains are volcanic in nature,
with an estimated age of 100 million years, and are made up of mostly basaltic
rock.
Uniqueness:
● The
Western Ghats of Maharashtra became a UNESCO
World Heritage Site and It is sometimes called the Great Escarpment of
India.
Rivers
in Sahyadri:
● Rivers
originating in Sahyadri include Krishna,
Godavari, and Kaveri.
Mountain
Ranges:
● The
Niligiri ranges southeast of Mysore in Karnataka, meet the Shevaroys
(Servarayan range) and Tirumala range farther east, linking the Western Ghats
to the Eastern Ghats.
Wildlife
Sanctuaries in Sahyadri region (Maharashtra):
● Bhimashankar
Wildlife Sanctuary
● Koyna
Wildlife Sanctuary
● Chandoli
National Park
Animals:
● Most
of the animal species endemic to the Western Ghats are absent in the Sahyadri
ranges.
● There
are no lion-tailed macaques, Nilgiri tahr, Nilgiri marten or Nilgiri langur in
the northern ranges of the Western Ghats.