Plateaus of Madhya Pradesh

Plateaus of Madhya Pradesh :

Madhya Pradesh is a state which has a balanced division of land between Mountain, Plateaus and Plains. The main physical composition of Madhya Pradesh is Basalt and Gondwana rocks. Following are the plateaus located in Madhya Pradesh :

Bhander Plateau :

The Bhander Plateau is a plateau in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. It has an area of 10,000 km². (4,000 sq mi). It links the Deccan Plateau to the south with the Indo-Gangetic Plains and the Chota Nagpur Plateau to the north and east respectively. The plateau is part of the Vindhya Range in central India.

A series of plateaux runs along the Kaimur Range. These fluvial plateaux, consists of a series of descending plateaux, starting with the Panna Plateau in the west, followed by Bhander Plateau and Rewa Plateau and ending with Rohtas Plateau in the east.

Bijawar-Panna Plateau :

The Bijawar-Panna Plateau covers portions of Chhatarpur and Panna districts in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Behind the Bijawar Hills in Sagar Division is the 25-30 km wide Bijawar-Panna Plateau. The Bijawar-Panna Plateau rises from the north to south in three well marked escarpments roughly followed by 300, 375 and 450 m contours, towards the longitudinal valleys of the rivers Mirhasan and Sonar. To the north-east of Panna there are two main branches – the southern is called Panna hills and the northern one Vindhyachal Range. The Panna Range merely forms a table land 15 km broad. Its general slope is from south-west to north-east.

It is part of the Bundelkhand Plateau. A series of plateaux runs along the Kaimur Range. These fluvial plateaux, consists of a series of descending plateaux, starting with the Panna Plateau in the west, followed by Bhander Plateau and Rewa Plateau and ending with Rohtas Plateau in the east. Crossing the Bijawar-Panna hills, the Ken River cuts a 60 km long, and 150-180 m deep gorge. Several streams join the Ken in this gorge making waterfalls.

Malwa Plateau :

The Malwa region occupies a plateau in western Madhya Pradesh and south eastern Rajasthan (between 21°10′N 73°45′E and 25°10′N 79°14′E) with Gujarat in the west. The region includes the Madhya Pradesh districts of Agar, Dewas, Dhar, Indore, Jhabua, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Rajgarh, Ratlam, Shajapur, Ujjain, and parts of Guna and Sehore, and the Rajasthan districts of Jhalawar and parts of Kota, Banswara and Pratapgarh. Malwa is bounded in the north-east by the Hadoti region, in the north-west by the Mewar region, in the west by the Vagad region and Gujarat. To the south and east is the Vindhya Range and to the north is the Bundelkhand upland.

The plateau is an extension of the Deccan Traps, formed between 60 and 68 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous period. In this region the main classes of soil are black, brown and bhatori (stony) soil. The volcanic, clay-like soil of the region owes its black colour to the high iron content of the basalt from which it formed. The soil requires less irrigation because of its high capacity for moisture retention. The other two soil types are lighter and have a higher proportion of sand. The average elevation of the plateau is 500 m. Some of the peaks over 800 m high are at Sigar (881 m), Janapav (854 m) and Ghajari (810 m). The plateau generally slopes towards the north. The western part of the region is drained by the Mahi River, while the Chambal River drains the central part, and the Betwa River and the headwaters of the Dhasan and Ken rivers drain the east. The Shipra River is of historical importance because of the Simhasth mela, held every 12 years. Other notable rivers are Parbati, Gambhir and Choti Kali Sindh.

Due to its altitude of about 550 to 600 meters above mean sea level, the region has comparatively cool evenings against the hot days during the summer season. Even if the day temperature reaches 42 to 43 degrees Celsius, the night temperatures are always in range of 20 to 22 degrees making the climate much cooler than the other areas of the region. The cool morning wind, the karaman, and an evening breeze, the Shab-e-Malwa, make the summers less harsh. The term Shab-e-Malwa, meaning dusk in Malwa (from shab, Urdu for night), was introduced by the Mughals.

The region is part of the Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests ecoregion.

Vegetation: The natural vegetation is tropical dry forest, with scattered teak (Tectona grandis) forests. The main trees are Butea, Bombax, Anogeissus, Acacia, Buchanania and Boswellia. The shrubs or small trees include species of Grewia, Ziziphus mauritiana, Casearia, Prosopis, Capparis, Woodfordia, Phyllanthus, and Carissa.

Wildlife: Sambhar (Cervus unicolor), Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), and Chinkara (Gazella bennettii) are some common ungulates.[18] During the last century, deforestation has happened at a fast rate, leading to environmental problems such as acute water scarcity and the danger that the region is being desertified.

Rewa Plateau :

The Rewa Plateau covers a portion of Rewa district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The Rewa Plateau lies between the Kaimur Range in the south and Vindhya Range or Binj Pahar in the north. To the north of the Binj Pahar are the alluvial plains known as Uprihar. The plateau covers the Huzur, Sirmaur and Mauganj tehsils of Rewa district. The height decreases from south to north. The Kaimur Range is more than 450 metres (1,480 ft). The alluvial plains of Teonthar are just around 100 metres (330 ft). A series of plateaux runs along the Kaimur Range. These fluvial plateaux, consists of a series of descending plateaux, starting with the Panna Plateau in the west, followed by Bhander Plateau and Rewa Plateau and ending with Rohtas Plateau in the east. The Ken valley separates the Rewa Plateau from the Satna Plateau. Because of the flatness they can also be called high plains. Only the southern part of the Rewa Plateau is hilly.

The Rewa plateau from Rehli in the southwest to Satna in the northeast is covered with alluvium of the Pleistocene and recent periods.