Chapter One: Land and the People
"INDIA is the cradle of the human race,
the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of
legend and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most
instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India
only." — Mark Twain.
India
has a unique culture and is one of the oldest
and greatest civilizations of the world. It stretches from the snow-capped
Himalayas in the North to sun drenched coastal villages of the South and the
humid tropical forests on the south-west coast, from the fertile Brahmaputra valley on its East to the Thar Desert in the West.
It
covers an area of 32,87,263 sq. km.
India is the 7th largest country in
the world and ranks 2nd in population.
Bounded
by the Great Himalayas in the north,
it stretches southwards and at the Tropic
of Cancer, tapers off into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on
the east and the Arabian Sea on the west.
Lying
entirely in the northern hemisphere,
the mainland extends between latitudes
8°4' and 3706 north, longitudes
68°7 and 97°25 east and measures about 3,214 km from north to south between the extreme latitudes and about
2,933 km from east to west between
the extreme longitudes.
It has
a land frontier of about 15,200 km.
The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep Islands and
Andaman & Nicobar Islands is 7,516.6
km.
Countries
having a common border with India are Afghanistan
and Pakistan to the north-west, China,
Bhutan and Nepal to the north, Myanmar to the far east and Bangladesh to the east Sri Lanka is separated from India by a
narrow channel of sea formed by the Palk
Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.
The
country can be divided into six zones
mainly North, South, East, West, Central and North-east zone. It has 29 states and 7 union territories.
The
mainland comprises four regions,
namely, the great mountain zone, plains of the Ganga and the Indus, the desert
region and the southern peninsula.
The
Himalayas comprise three almost
parallel ranges interspersed with large plateaus and valleys, some of which,
like the Kashmir and Kullu valleys, are fertile, extensive and of great scenic
beauty.
Some
of the highest peaks in the world
are found in these ranges. The high altitudes admit travel only to a few passes,
notably the Jelep La and Nathu La on the main Indo-Tibet trade
route through the Chumbi Valley, north-east of Darjeeling and Shipki La in the Satluj valley,
north—east of Kalpa (Kinnaur).
The
mountain wall extends over a distance of about 2,400 km with a varying depth of 240 to 320 km.
In
the east, between India and Myanmar and India and Bangladesh, hill ranges are much lower.
Garo,
Khasi, Jaintia and Naga Hills, running almost east-west, join the chain to Mizo and Rkhine Hills running almost east—west, joint the chain to Mizo and Rhine Hills
running north-south.
The
plains of the Ganga and the Indus,
about 2,400 km long and 240 to 320 km broad, are formed by
basins of three distinct river systems — the Indus, the Ganga and the
Brahmaputra.
They
are one of the world's greatest
stretches of flat alluvium and also one of the most densely populated areas
on the earth. Between the Yamuna at Delhi and the Bay of Bengal, nearly 1,600
km away, there is a drop of only 200
metres in elevation.
The
desert region can be divided into
two parts - the ‘great desert’ and
the ‘little desert'.
The
great desert extends from the edge
of the Rann of Kuchch beyond the Luni river northward. The whole of the Rajasthan—Sind frontier runs through
this.
The
little desert extends from the Luni
between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur up to the northern west. Between the great and
the little deserts lies a zone of
absolutely sterile country, consisting of rocky land, cut up by limestone
ridges.
The
Peninsular Plateau is marked off
from the plains of the Ganga and the Indus by a mass of mountain and hill ranges varying from 460 to 1,220
metres in height. Prominent among these are the Aravali, Vindhya, Satpura, Maikala and Ajanta.
The
Peninsula is flanked on the one side by the Eastern
Ghats where average elevation is about 610
metres and on the other by the Western
Ghats where it is generally from 915
to 1,220 metres, rising in places to over 2,440 metres.
Between
the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea lies a narrow coastal strip, while between Eastern Ghats and the Bay of
Bengal, there is a broader Coastal area.
The
southern point of plateau is formed by the Nilgiri
Hills where the Eastern and the
Western Ghats meet.
The
Cardamom Hills lying beyond may be
regarded as a continuation of the Western Ghats.
The
geological regions broadly follow the physical features and may be grouped ‘into
three regions: the Himalayas and their associated group of mountains, the Indo—Ganga Plain and the Peninsular Shield.
The
Himalayan mountain belt to the north and the
Naga—Lushai mountain in the east, are the regions of mountain building movement. Most of this area, now
presenting some of the most magnificent
mountain scenery in the world, was under marine conditions about 60 crore
years ago.
In
a series of mountain- building movements commencing about 7 crore years ago, the sediments and the basement rocks rose to great heights.
The
weathering and erosive elements worked on these to produce the relief seen
today.
The Indo-Ganga plains
are a great alluvial tract that
separates the Himalayas in the north from the Peninsula in the south.
The
Peninsula is a region of relative
stability and occasional seismic disturbances.
Highly metamorphosed rocks of the earliest periods, dating back as far as 380
crore years, occur in this area; the rest being covered by the Gondwana formations, lava flows
belonging to the Deccan Trap formation and younger sediments.
The
river systems of India can be classified into four groups viz., (i) Himalayan rivers, (ii) Deccan rivers, (iii)
Coastal rivers, and (iv) Rivers of the inland drainage basin.
The Himalayan rivers
are formed by melting snow and glaciers and therefore, continuously flow
throughout the year. During the monsoon months, Himalayas receive very heavy
rainfall and rivers swell, causing
frequent floods.
The Deccan rivers on
the other hand are rainfed and
therefore fluctuate in volume. Many of these are non-perennial.
The Coastal streams,
especially on the west coast are short
in length and have limited catchment areas. Most of them are non-perennial.
The
streams of inland drainage basin of
western Rajasthan are few and far apart. Most of them are of an ephemeral character.
The
main Himalayan river systems are those of the Indus and the Ganga- Brahmaputra—Meghna system.
The Indus,
which is one of the great rivers of the world, rises near Mansarovar in Tibet and flows through India and
thereafter through Pakistan and finally
falls into the Arabian sea near Karachi.
It’s important tributaries flowing in Indian territory are the Sutlej (originating in Tibet), the Beas, the Ravi, the Chenab and the
jhelum.
The
Ganga-Brahinaputra-Meghna is another important system of which the principal
sub-basins are those of Bhagirathi and
the Alaknanda, which join at Dev
Prayag to form the Ganga. It traverses
through Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal states.
Below
Rajmahal hills, the Bhagirathi,
which used to be the main course in the past, takes off, while the Padma continues eastward and enters Bangladesh.
The
Yamuna, Ramganga, Ghaghra, Gandak, Kosi, Mahananda and Sone are the important tributaries of
the Ganga.
Rivers
Chambal and Betwa are the important
sub—tributaries, which join Yamuna
before it meets the Ganga.
The Padma
and the Brahmaputra join at
Bangladesh and continue to flow as the Padma or Ganga.
The
Brahmaputra rises in Tibet, where it
is known as Tsangpo and runs a long
distance till it crosses over into India in Arunachal Pradesh under the name of
Dihang.
Near Passighat,
the Debang and Lohit join the river
Brahrnaputra and the combined river runs all along the Assam valley. It crosses
into Bangladesh downstream of Dhubri.
The
principal tributaries of Brahmaputra
in India are the Subansiri, Iia Bhareli,
Dhansiri, Puthimari, Pagladiya and the Manas.
The
Brahmaputra in Bangladesh fed by Teesta,
etc. finally falls into Ganga.
The Barak river,
the head stream of Meghna, rises in the
hills in Manipur. The important tributaries of the river are Makku, Trang, Tuivai, Iiri, Sonai, Rukni,
Katakhal, Dhaleswari, Langachini, Maduva and Iatinga.
Barak
continues in Bangladesh till the combined Ganga—Brahmaputra join it near Bhairab Bazar.
In the Deccan region,
most of the major river systems flowing generally in east direction fall into Bay of Bengal. The major east flowing rivers are Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery and Mahanadi.
Narmada and Tapti are major West flowing rivers.
The
Godavari in the southern Peninsula
has the second largest river basin covering
10% of the area of India.
Next
to it is the Krishna basin in the region
and the Mahanadi is another large
basin of the region.
The
basin of the Narmada in the uplands
of the Deccan, flowing to the Arabian Sea and of the Kaveri in the south, falling into the Bay of Bengal are about the same size, though with
different character and shape.
There
are numerous coastal rivers, which
are comparatively small. While only handful of such rivers drains into the sea
near the delta of east coast, there are as many as 600 such rivers on the west coast.
A
few rivers in Rajasthan do not drain into the sea. They drain
into salt lakes and get lost in sand
with no outlet to sea. Besides these, there are the Desert Rivers which flow for some distance and are lost in the
desert. These are Luni, Machhu, Rupen,
Saraswati, Banas, Ghaggar and others.
The
entire country has been divided into 20
river basins / group of river basins comprising 12 major basins and 8
composite river basins.
The
twelve major river basins are: (I)
Indus, (2) Ganga-l3rahmaputra—Meghna, (3) Godavari, (4) Krishna, (5) Cauvery,
(6) Mahanadi, (7) Pennar, (8) Brahmani - Baitarani, (9) Sabarmati, (10) Mahi,
(11) Narmada and (12) Tapti. Each of these basins has a drainage area exceeding 20,000 sq. km.
The
eight composite river basins
combining suitably together all the other remaining medium (drainage area of 2,000 to 20,000 sq.km) and small river systems (drainage area less
than 2000 sq.km) for the purpose of planning and management are :
(1)
Subarnarekha-combining Subarnarekha and other small rivers between Subarnarekha
and Baitarani;
(2) East flowing rivers between Mahanadi and Pennar;
(3) East
flowing rivers between Pennar and Kanyakumari;
(4) Area of Inland Drainage in
Rajasthan Desert;
(5) West flowing rivers of Kutch and Saurashtra including
Luni;
(6) West flowing rivers from Tapi to Tadri;
(7) West flowing rivers from
Tadri to Kanyakumari and
(8) Minor rivers draining into Myanmar (Burma) and
Bangladesh.
The
climate of India may be broadly described as tropical monsoon type.
The
Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) designates four official seasons:
Winter,
occurring from December to early April. The year's coldest months are December
and January, when temperatures average around 10-15°C in the northwest;
temperatures rise as one proceeds towards the equator, peaking around 20-250C
in mainland India's southeast,
Summer or pre-monsoon season,
lasting from April to June (April to July in northwestern India). In western
and southern regions, the hottest month is April; for northern regions, May is
the hottest month. Temperatures average around 32-40°C in most of the interior,
Monsoon or rainy season,
lasting from June to September. The season is dominated by the humid southwest
summer monsoon, which slowly sweeps across the country beginning in late May or
early June. Monsoon rains begin to recede from North India at the beginning of
October. South India typically receives more rainfall.
Post-monsoon season,
lasting from October to December. In northwestern India, October and November
are usually cloudless.
The
Himalayan states, being more
temperate, experience an additional two seasons:
autumn and spring.
Traditionally,
Indians note six seasons, each about
two months long. These are the spring
(Sanskrit: Vasanta), summer (grishma),
monsoon season (Varsha), early autumn (sharada), late autumn (hemanta), and winter (shishira). These are based on
the astronomical division of the twelve months into six parts.
India's
climate is affected by two seasonal
winds: the north—east monsoon and the south-west monsoon.
The
north-east monsoon commonly known as winter
monsoon blows from land to sea whereas south-west monsoon known as summer monsoon blows from sea to land
after crossing the Indian ocean, the Arabian sea and the Bay of Bengal.
The
south—west monsoon brings most of the rainfall during the year in the country.
India
is rich in flora. Available data place India in the 10th position in the world and 4th
in Asia in plant diversity.
From
about 70% geographical area surveyed so far, over 46,000 species of plants have been described by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Kolkata.
The
Vascular flora, which forms the Conspicuous
vegetation cover, comprises 15,000 species.
India
can be divided into 8 distinct floristlc-regions,
namely, the western Himalayas, the eastern Himalayas, Assam, the Indus plain,
the Ganga plain, the Deccan, Malabar and the Andamans.
The Western Himalayan region
extends from Kashmir to Kumaon. Its temperate zone is rich in forests of chir,
pine, other conifers and broad-leaved temperate trees. Higher up, forests of
deodar, blue pine, spruce and silver fir occur. The alpine zone extends from the upper limit of the temperate zone
of about 4,750 metres or even higher. The characteristic trees of this zone are
high- level silver fir, silver birch and junipers.
The eastern Himalayan region
extends from Sikkim eastwards and embraces Darjeeling, Kurseong and the
adjacent tracts. The temperate zone has forests of oaks, laurels, maples,
rhododendrons, alder and birch. Many conifers, junipers and dwarf willows also
grow here.
The Assam region
comprises the Brahmaputra and the Surma valleys with evergreen forests,
occasional thick clumps of bamboos and tall grasses.
The Indus plain region
comprises the plains of Punjab, western Rajasthan and northern Gujarat. It is
dry, hot and supports natural vegetation.
The Ganga plain region
covers the area which is alluvial plain and is under cultivation for wheat,
sugarcane and rice. Only small areas support forests of widely differing types.
The Deccan region
comprises the entire table land of the Indian Peninsula and supports vegetation
of various kinds from shrub jungles to mixed deciduous forests.
The Malabar region
covers the excessively humid belt of mountain country parallel to the west
coast of the Peninsula. Besides being rich in forest vegetation, this region
produces important commercial crops, such as coconut, betelnut, pepper, coffee,
tea, rubber and cashewnut.
The Andaman region abounds
in evergreen, mangrove, beach and diluvial forests. Iihe Himalayan region
extending from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh through Sikkim, Meghalaya and
Nagaland and the Deccan Peninsula is rich in endemic flora, with a large number
of plants which are not found elsewhere.
Ethno—botanical study
deals with the utilisation of plants
and plant products by ethnic races. A
scientific study of such plants has been done by BSI.
About
1,336 plant species are considered vulnerable and endangered. About 20 species of higher plants are
categorised as possibly extinct, as
these have not been sighted during the last 6-10 decades.
BSI
brings out an inventory of endangered plants in the form of a publication
titled Red Data Book
According
to world bio-geographic classification, India
represents two of the major realms (the Palearctic and Indo-Malayan) and three biomes (Tropical Humid Forests,
Tropical Dry/ Deciduous Forests and Warm Deserts/Semi- Deserts).
Wildlife Institute of India
has proposed a modified classification-which divides the country into 10 biogeographic regions:
Trans-Himalayan, Himalayan, Indian Desert, Semi-Arid, Western Ghats, Deccan
Peninsula, Cangetic Plain, North East India Islands and Coasts.
In
the light of Biodiversity Convention,
India holds a unique position with
the priority of conservation of natural resources and sustainable development.
lnfact,
within only about 2% of world's total land surface, India is known to have over
7.50% of the species of animals that
the world holds and this %age accounts nearly for 92,037 species so far known, of which insects alone include 61,375
species.
It
is estimated that about two times
that number of species still remains to
be discovered in India alone.
|
Taxonomic Group
|
World
|
India
|
% in India
|
|
Protista
(Protozoa)
|
31250
|
2577
|
8.24%
|
|
Arthropoda
|
999059
|
71480
|
7.15%
|
|
Chordata
|
46499
|
5163
|
10.65%
|
India
accounts for a meagre 2.4% of the world
surface area of 135.79 million sq.km.
The
population of India as recorded at each decennial census from 1901 has grown
steadily except for a decrease during
1911—21.
The
Census of India 2001, was historic and epoch making, being the first census of the 21st
century and the 3rd millennium.
Census 2011
was the 15th Census of India since
1872. It was held in two phases:
House
listing and Housing Census (April to Sept. 2010)
Population
Enumeration (9 to 28 February 2011 with Revisional round during 1st to 5th
March, 2011).
Reference Date
was 0.00 hour of 1st March 2011. In
snow bound areas, the Population Enumeration was conducted from 11th to 30th
September 2010.
The Final Population data
was released on 30.04.13. The
general trends of census 2011 are being mentioned as under:
Population:
Persons-1210.7 million; Males 623.2 million; and Females 587.5 million.
Density of Population:
Density in 2001 was 325 and density in
2011 is 382, difference being 17.5% (density is defined as the number of
persons /sq km.) Among major states, Bihar is the most thickly populated state
with (a population density of) 1,106 persons per sq.km followed by West Bengal 1,028 and Kerala 860.
Gender composition of Population 2011:
Overall sex ratio at the National level has increased by 7 points since census 2001 to reach 943 at census 2011. This is the highest sex ratio recorded since census
1991. Sex ratio, defined as the number of females per thousand males is an
important social indicator to measure the extent of prevailing equality between
males and females in a society at a given point of time. The sex ratio from
1901-2011 has registered a 10 point
increase at census 2011 over 2001; however, child sex ratio has declined to 919 per thousand male.
As
per the census 2011, literates constituted 73.0%
of the total population aged seven
and above and illiterates formed 27.0%. Literacy rate has gone up from
64.8% in 2001 to 73.0% showing an increase
of 8.2 %age points. It is encouraging to note that out of total of
202,810,720 literates added during the decade, female 104,660,657 outnumber
male 98,150,063. For the purpose of census 2011, a person aged seven and above,
who can both read and write with understanding in any language, is treated as literate. A person, who
can only read but cannot write, is not literate.
Kerala retained its position by
being on top with a 94% literacy
rate, closely followed by Lakshadweep (86.66%).
Bihar
with a literacy rate of 61.8% ranks last
in the country.
Kerala also
occupies the top spot in the country both in male literacy with 96.1% and
female literacy with 92.1%.
On
the contrary, Bihar has recorded die lowest literacy rates both in case
of males (71.2%) and females (51.5%).
Kerala
ranks first in the country with a literacy rate of 93.91%, closely followed by Lakshadweep (92.28%) and Mizoram (91.58%).
Bihar
with a literacy rate of 63.82% ranks in the country preceded by Arunachal Pradesh (66.95%) and Rajasthan (67.06%).
Among
the major States, Maharashtra
(82.91%) comes after Kerala, followed by Tamil
Nadu. (80.33%).
The
States and Union Territories with literacy rates below the National average (7704%) are Jammu and Kashmir,
Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
Jharkhand, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
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