Topography and climate

The district consists of three natural divisions, viz, the lowland, the midland and the highland. The highland stretches through the western ghats and descends to the midland in the centre, down to the lowland and coconut gardens on the western borders of Alappuzha district. The topo- graphy of the district is highly undulating. It starts from the tall hill slopes covered with thick forests on the east along the mountains down to the valleys and small hills of the land of coconut trees in the west.

 Weather  Forest  Rivers


 Weather

 Monthly rainfall (m.m)
Month
Rainfall
Jan
16.05
Feb
235.5
Mar
75.7
Apr
167.4
May
125.4
Jun
594.7
Jul
231.6
Aug
562.8
Sep
297.0
Oct
195.6
Nov
93.1
Dec
87.5




















Source: Economic Review, 2001

The district has more or less the same climatic conditions as prevalent elsewhere in the State, viz., winter season from December to February and summer season from March to May. The south west monsoon from June to September and the north west monsoon from October to November provide fairly good rain. The south west monsoon is usually very heavy and about 75 per cent of the annual rain is received during this season. The climate is generally moderate, the temperature is between from 20 and 39 degree celsius.

Forest

Forest covers an area of 1390.73 sq.kms. in the district. This is more than 50 per cent of the total area of the district, while the optimum area fixed by experts is 33 per cent.The total cropped area in Pathanamthitta district is 1086.53 sq.kms. The forests in the district can broadly be classified as evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous. Timber is the most important forest produce . In fact, forest is the main source of raw materials for wood based industrial units. Teak, rosewood, jack tree, manjakadambu, anjili, pala etc. are some of the important varieties of timber available. Apart from providing raw materials for rayon, news print, plywood etc., these forests are sources for a number of useful minor products like bamboo, reeds, honey, medicinal plants and herbs.

Rivers

Three important rivers flow through the district. They are Pamba, Achankovil and Manimala rivers. The Pampa river is a confluence of Pambayar, Aruthayar, Kakkadayar, Kakkar and Kallar. It descends from Sabarimala, flows through various parts of Ranni taluk, enters Alappuzha district after joining with river Manimala and river Achankovil and empties itself into the vembanad lake. The river Achankovil is formed by the Rishimala, Pasukidamettu and Ramakkalteri and joints the Pamba at Veeyapuram in Alappuzha district.

One third of the electricity produced in the State comes from this district. The Sabarigiri Hydro-electric Project is situated at the Pamba basin. Kakkad Electricity project is also functions in this district.

The abundant water resources in the district is also utilized for irrigation purpose through the Kallada and Pamba Irrigation Projects.

 







 
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