Indian Coastal Plains: Eastern Coastal Plains

Basics

• Extending from the Subarnarekha river along the West Bengal-Odisha border to Kanniyakumari.

Division of Eastern Coastal Plain

1. Utkal Plain
   • The Utkal Plain comprises coastal areas of Odisha including the Mahanadi delta.
   • Lie between Brahmani and Mahanadi rivers.
   • The most prominent physiographic feature of this plain is the Chilka Lake.
     • It is a brackish water lake
     • It is a ramsar site.
2. Andhra Plain
   • South of the Utkal Plain and extends upto Pulicat Lake. 
     • This lake has been barred by a long sand spit known as Sriharikota Island (ISRO launch facility).
     • The lake is a Ramsar site.
     • The lake lies on the Andhra Pradesh – Tamil Nadu border.
   • This part of the plain has a straight coast and lacks good harbours with the exception of Visakhapatnam and Machilipatnam.
   • Kolleru freshwater lake is located in this region which is also a Ramsar site.
3. Coromandel Coast (Tamil Nadu Plain)
   • The Coromandel Coast stretches for 675 km from Pulicat lake to Kanyakumari along the coast of Tamil Nadu.
   • Its average width is 100 km.
   • The most important feature of this plain is the Cauvery delta where the plain is 130 km wide and is referred to as the granary of South India.