Coastal Plains

The Great Plateau of India is surrounded by plains on all sides. In the north lies the Great Northern Plain and in south, along the east and west lie the Coastal Plains.

East Coastal Plain

East Coastal Plain extends along the coast of the Bay of Bengal from Ganga Delta in the north to Kanyakumari in the south. This plain is broader than the western coastal Plains. This plain includes the deltas of the rivers Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri. Chilka, Pulicat and Koluru lakes are the famous lagoons of this plain. These lakes have been formed by enclosing small parts of the Bay of Bengal behind sand bars.

West Coastal Plain

West Coastal Plain extends along the Arabian Sea from the Rann of Kutchch in the north to Kanyakumari in the south. Except for the Gujarat plain, the western coastal plains are narrower than the eastern coastal plain. The coast from Goa to Mangalore is called the Karnataka coast. The coast from Mangalore upto Kanyakumari is called the Malabar coast.