Kaniyakumari in the context of Kanyakumari district

The Eastern Coastal Plains is a stretch of landmass lying between the eastern part of the Deccan Plateau and the Bay of Bengal in India. The plains stretch from the Mahanadi delta to Kaniyakumari at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula with the Eastern Ghats forming its rough western boundary. It is wider and leveled than the Western Coastal Plains and traverses the states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.

The plains are broadly divided into three subdivisions–Utkal Plains in the north, Andhra plains in the center, and Tamil Nadu plains in the south. The plains are fertile as it forms part of the deltas of major peninsular rivers such as Godavari, Krishna, Mahanadi, and Kaveri.

The Western Coastal Plains is a narrow stretch of landmass lying between the western part of the Deccan Plateau and the Arabian Sea in India. The plains stretch from the Kutch region in the Western India to Kaniyakumari at the southern tip of the Indian peninsula, with the Western Ghats forming its eastern boundary. It traverses the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, and Kerala.

The plains are broadly divided into six subdivisions–Kutch and Kathiawar along with the Gujarat Plains in the north, Konkan Coast and Canara in the center, and Malabar in the south. Due to the presence of Western Ghats, which blocks the rain-bearing winds, the region from the south of Gujarat experiences heavy rainfall during the monsoons. Unlike the Eastern Coastal Plains, very few rivers cut across the region due to the steeper gradient of the Indian peninsula moving from east to west and the major rivers include Narmada and Tapti.