degraded with the passage of time causing
Adivasi groups which originally relied upon
soil erosion and depleting water recharging
forests as their traditional economic resource
which ultimately leads to the siltation of the
base.
river, causing paucity of the subsurface &
Forest & Sanctuaries:- Teak and India’s
surface flow in non-rainy season.
best hardwood forest are found in the
Narmada river basin. The lower Narmada
RIVERS OF INDIA
river valley and the surrounding upland
Narmada the daughter of Lord Shiva
Part 7
consist of dry deciduous forests. The
ecosystem lies between moisture forests to
Physiographyically, the Narmada Valley
spreads over three of 15 major regions of
this subcontinent. The river rises in NE
upland, traverses the central plains and joins
the sea in Gujarat coastal plains. From the
view point of regional geography, the valley
itself falls into three broad areas:
the NE, SE and SW which receive greater
rainfall from the SE monsoon; and the drier
forests and the scrub lands of the Deccan to
the south, and Malwa and Gujarat to the
west and NW. The ecoregion is home to 76
species of mammals, and 276 bird species,
none
I) Vindhyachal – Baghelkhand II) Malva
and III) The Gujarat plains . In true sense,
the Narmada Valley falls into three major,
seven medium and 16 minor regions. These
regions together constitute the physical basis
of the cultural landscape of the Narmada
Valley.
of
which
are
found
regularly.
According to World Wildlife Fund, about
30% of the ecoregion is covered under
relatively intact vegetation. The ecoregion
includes some large blocks of habitat in the
Vindhyan and Satpura ranges. About 5% of
the region lies within protected areas,
including Bandhavgarh, Panssa and adjacent
Topographic
factors
like
the
distribution of plains, uplands and hills in
correlation with the distribution of soils,
water and forests are the determining factors
for animal and human habitat. Natural
conditions have changed considerably since
the advent of British Rule in the region.
Especially the ever since ongoing progress
of deforestation is of dramatic dimensions.
National Park.
Kanha National Park is located in the
upper reaches of Narmada, about 18 km.
from Mandla and boasts of several wild
animals including tiger. Two tributaries of
the river vizHallen and Banifer flow through
this park. It is one of the best National parks
of Asia. Satpura National park is located in
Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh ,
The Narmada Valley is home to major
6
Integrated River Basin Management Society